A Chinese monopoly on local telecommunications in some countries poses a security threat to Taiwan’s overseas missions, an academic has said.
Kuma Academy chief executive officer Ho Cheng-hui (何澄輝) made the remarks following the release of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ (MOFA) budget review report for this fiscal year, which said that 14 overseas missions were found to use questionable brands of information and communications technology (ICT), and 19 use services from questionable telecoms.
The report on “the review and implementation of protective measures for the information security at overseas missions” said that telecom services at 17 missions cannot be replaced due to Chinese companies’ monopoly on local telecom markets.
Photo: Reuters
Aside from the 17 missions, two other missions were found to have installed Chinese social media apps on official mobile phones to collect information and communicate with overseas communities, the ministry said, adding that it has registered the phones and ordered more inspections.
The phones are going to be managed by the ministry personnel according to the “for official use only” principle and may not connect to the ministry’s network, it said.
As the Chinese equipment and services are irreplaceable in some places, the missions’ information security would be reinforced through project management and periodic inspections, it added.
Ho said that overseas missions are supposed to compartmentalize data and messages of different levels, and adopt safer encryption channels to exchange information, but there are still risks as most Chinese services used by the missions have a backdoor.
Sensitive information such as personal documents could be handled elsewhere rather than the duty area, as there might be risks related to the local environment, he said.
The Ministry of Digital Affairs should inspect each overseas mission along with MOFA, or a government agency should be assigned to conduct a general review, he said.
MOFA should provide officials in each mission with information security training, he said.
The inspections can be conducted by task forces or non-governmental information security companies to avoid departmental parochialism, he added.
Overseas missions generally would have their information encrypted, but they should be more careful of personnel’s ICT equipment, said Tzeng Yi-suo (曾怡碩), assistant research fellow of the Institute for National Defense and Security Research’s Division of Cyber Security and Decision-Making Simulation.
Even data transmitted via cables can be intercepted, physically monitored or spied on, so it is important to keep information within premises, Tzeng 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 High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS