Hacktivist collective Anonymous yesterday claimed to have hacked the Chinese Ministry of Emergency Management and a Beijing-based private satellite operator in retaliation for a Wikipedia edit war the hackers said was part of a Chinese influence operation.
The cyberattacks on Saturday compromised the menu page of the content management system for the ministry’s Web site, enabling the hackers to vandalize 19 pages and deface seven forums with images, the Taiwan News Web site yesterday quoted Anonymous representative “Allez-opi_omi” as saying.
The group also claimed to have hacked three pages of MinoSpace Technology’s Web site.
Photo courtesy of Anonymous
The Web sites were altered to display images of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), the Republic of China (ROC) flag and satirical Winnie the Pooh cartoons, along with slogans such as “Down with Xi Jinping” (習近平) and “Restore the ROC,” archived versions of the sites on the Wayback Machine showed.
The hacks were in response to a Wikipedia edit war that started in September over an entry related to Anonymous member “Cyber Anakin,” who has allegedly hacked Chinese government Web sites and management system interfaces, Allez-opi_omi was cited as saying.
The edits were part of a larger Chinese information operation to change content on Wikipedia by exploiting the system, they said, citing an edit on China’s Oct. 1 National Day that changed Taiwan’s status from a country to a “partially recognized country.”
A Taiwanese software developer has created a generative artificial intelligence (AI) model to help people use AI without exposing sensitive data, project head Huang Chung-hsiao (黃崇校) said yesterday. Huang, a 55-year-old coder leading a US-based team, said that concerns over data privacy and security in popular generative AIs such as ChatGPT and DeepSeek motivated him to develop a personal AI assistant named “Mei.” One of the biggest security flaws with cloud-based algorithms is that users are required to hand over personal information to access the service, giving developers the opportunity to mine user data, he said. For this reason, many government agencies and
The National Fire Agency on Thursday said a series of drills simulating a magnitude 8.5 earthquake would be held in September to enhance the government’s emergency response capabilities. Since earthquakes cannot be predicted, only by continuously promoting disaster prevention measures could Taiwan enhance its resilience to earthquakes, agency Director-General Hsiao Huan-chang (蕭煥章) said in a news release. The exercises would be held to mark annual National Disaster Prevention Day on Sept. 21, the aim of which is to test Taiwan’s preparedness and improve its earthquake resilience in case of a major temblor, Hsiao said. As part of those drills, an earthquake alert would
DEFENSE: The National Security Bureau promised to expand communication and intelligence cooperation with global partners and enhance its strategic analytical skills China has not only increased military exercises and “gray zone” tactics against Taiwan this year, but also continues to recruit military personnel for espionage, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday in a report to the Legislative Yuan. The bureau submitted the report ahead of NSB Director-General Tsai Ming-yen’s (蔡明彥) appearance before the Foreign and National Defense Committee today. Last year, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted “Joint Sword-2024A and B” military exercises targeting Taiwan and carried out 40 combat readiness patrols, the bureau said. In addition, Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s airspace 3,070 times last year, up about
STRICTER ENFORCEMENT: Taipei authorities warned against drunk cycling after a sharp rise in riding under the influence, urging greater public awareness of its illegality Taipei authorities have issued a public warning urging people not to ride bicycles after consuming alcohol, following a sharp rise in riding under the influence (DUI) cases involving bicycles. Five hundred and seven people were charged with DUI last year while riding YouBikes, personal bicycles, or other self-propelled two-wheelers — a fourfold increase from the previous year, data released by the Taipei Police Department’s Traffic Division showed. Of these, 33 cases were considered severe enough to be prosecuted under “offenses against public safety,” the data showed. Under the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例), bicycles — including YouBikes and other
RSS