An academic has renewed a call for Minister of Digital Affairs Audrey Tang (唐鳳) to identify China in proposed amendments to the Cyber Security Management Act (資通安全管理法) in a Facebook duel over public policy.
A draft of the amendments released by the Ministry of Digital Affairs stipulated that government offices would be barred from using devices or software deemed to be a cybersecurity risk or employing the services of a contractor or venue that uses such products.
In a Facebook post on Thursday, National Cheng Kung University electronics engineering professor Lee Chung-hsien (李忠憲) said that the proposed amendment should explicitly ban government offices from using hardware or software originating from China.
Photo: Reuters
Tang later that day defended the policy through an intermediary, saying that forbidding officials from using any Beijing-controlled technology without regard to the listed country of origin was among her first acts in office.
Information security is a top priority for the ministry, which continues to spearhead Taiwan’s participation in the Global Tech Security Commission to bolster the nation’s ability to defend data security in conjunction with foreign partners, she was paraphrased as saying.
In a post on Friday, Lee asked why the ministry does not clearly state that the restricted products include those made in China.
Asked to elaborate, Lee said he believes that a national cybersecurity policy must unambiguously name the main security threat it seeks to address.
Priorities cannot be assigned or resources properly allocated if the threat is never identified by name, he said.
As no absolutes exist in security, regulators must prioritize threats, he said, adding that the terms used in the draft were too vague and might confuse officials tasked with implementing security measures.
Fears of a blowback from China over the amendments are overblown, as the scope of the legislation is limited to protecting government offices and key infrastructure, Lee added.
“Refusing to prepare our defenses, buy weapons or treat China as an enemy would not make Taiwan safer,” he said.
“The government has to punish rule-breakers with heavy fines and invest real resources in patching up vulnerabilities to make clear that cybersecurity is not just for show,” he said.
SEND A MESSAGE: Sinking the amphibious assault ship, the lead warship of its class, is meant to show China the US Navy is capable of sinking their ships, an analyst said The US and allied navies plan to sink a 40,000-tonne ship at the latest Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise to simulate defeating a Chinese amphibious assault on Taiwan. This year’s RIMPAC — the 29th iteration of the world’s largest naval exercise — involves the US, 28 partners, more than 25,000 personnel, 40 warships, three submarines and more than 150 aircraft operating in and around Hawaii from yesterday to Aug. 1, the US Navy said in a press release. The major components of the event include multidomain warfare exercises in multiship surface engagements, anti-submarine warfare and multi-axis defense of a carrier strike
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
The airspace around Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) is to be closed for an hour on July 25 and July 23 respectively, due to the Han Kuang military exercises, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The annual exercise is to be held on Taiwan proper and its outlying islands from July 22 to 26. During last year’s exercise, the military conducted anti-aircraft landing drills at the Taoyuan airport for the first time, for which a one-hour no-fly ban was issued. Based on a live-fire bulletin sent out by the Maritime and Port Bureau, the nation’s
CROSS-BORDER CRIME: The suspects cannot be charged with cybercrime in Indonesia as their targets were in Malaysia, an Indonesian immigration director said Indonesian immigration authorities have detained 103 Taiwanese after a raid at a villa on Bali, officials said yesterday. They were accused of misusing their visas and residence permits, and are suspected of possible cybercrimes, Safar Muhammad Godam, director of immigration supervision and enforcement at the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights told reporters at a news conference. “The 103 foreign nationals stayed at the villa and conducted suspicious activities, which we suspect are activities related to cybercrime activities,” he said, presenting laptops and routers at the news conference. Godam said Indonesian authorities cannot charge them with conducting cybercrime. “During the inspection, we