Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers yesterday accused government agencies of negligence and dereliction of duty following reports of major personal data breaches, which they said have seriously compromised national security.
Since 2016, there have been eight major cases of personal data leaks at government agencies and state-run enterprises, they said.
“This has stoked public anger, as government officials have shown little concern and a lack of urgency in dealing with these national security breaches,” DPP Legislator Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) told a news conference at the Legislature Yuan in Taipei.
Photo: CNA
Private data breaches have occurred repeatedly, but government officials treat them on a “case-by-case” basis and have not taken concrete action to plug these leaks, DPP Legislator Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) said.
“I have yet to see any government agency take an assessment, and pinpoint the weaknesses and vulnerabilities in our personal data storage systems,” he said.
“The new Ministry of Digital Affairs should shoulder the responsibility of coordinating with judicial investigation agencies and national security units to assess the nation’s information security system, recommend ways to enhance personal data protection, and come up with a new national strategy to prevent [data leaks] and strengthen information security,” he said.
The ministry, which started operating last year, oversees the Administration for Cyber Security, whose stated aim is to boost cybersecurity defense to protect “critical information infrastructure,” implement the Cyber Security Management Act (資通安全管理法), build a resilient, secure, smart country, and connect competent authorities to expand national cybersecurity defense mechanisms, he said.
“If the ministry and the Administration for Cyber Security cannot deal with these personal data breaches, why were they established in the first place?” Hung asked.
Liu and Hung presented a list of major data leaks over the past seven years that were either an inside job by government bureaucrats or due to hackers.
They included the theft of 17,000 transaction records at state-run Chunghwa Post Mall in May 2016 by hackers based in China and 58,000 personal data files at the Ministry of Labor’s Workforce Development Agency in July that year.
An incident at the Ministry of Civil Service in June 2019 led to the leak of 200,000 civil workers’ personal files, which were put on sale on foreign Web sites, while local household registration records were placed on sale on the Darknet in May 2020, allegedly by workers in the Ministry of the Interior’s Department of Household Registration (戶政司), the lawmakers said.
These were followed by several major breaches last year — another household data leak in October from the same department, and hackers penetrating government-run Taoyuan General Hospital last month and stealing patients’ and medical personnel files, they said.
This month saw a major security breach at China Airlines, with hackers allegedly stealing the personal data of customers, including Taiwanese business leaders, politicians and celebrities.
It was followed by a major leak of the National Health Insurance data of officers at 11 national security and military agencies, they said.
It was allegedly masterminded by Yeh Feng-ming (葉逢明), a former chief secretary of the National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA), working in collusion with other agency staff, with the information reportedly being passed on to Chinese intelligence officials during Yeh’s trips to China in the past 10 years, media reports said.
Investigation reports allegedly show that Yeh and his family hold more than NT$1 billion (US$32.97 million) in overseas bank accounts.
DPP Legislator Lai Pin-yu (賴品妤) said that the nation lacks independent bodies to oversee personal data protection at government agencies.
“Those bodies currently tasked with scrutinizing internal breaches and data theft are not doing their job. It is unbelievable that vast amounts of government-held private information have been stolen and sold to foreign countries,” she said.
“If this situation is not dealt with in earnest, the public would lose faith in the government,” she said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as