The Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command yesterday condemned Beijing for sharing online pictures and the personal information of four Taiwanese servicepeople to accuse them of involvement in “cyberwarfare” against China.
The command said that the core objective of its Cyberwarfare Wing is the same as its counterparts in other democracies: to ensure cybersecurity.
The Chinese Ministry of State Security misused public pictures and made false accusations that revealed its “arrogant” intention of oppressing Taiwanese through coercion, it said.
Photo: REUTERS
China has over the past few years become the biggest troublemaker globally, and which has aroused criticism from many countries, it said, adding that Beijing is escalating its military intimidation activities in the Indo-Pacific region by sending military aircraft and vessels to harass Taiwan and other countries in the region, it said.
China also resorts to “gray area” tactics such as cyberattacks, blatantly disrupting the international order and undermining regional peace and stability, it added.
The command would continue to defend national security by countering enemies’ cyberattacks, it said, adding that it would enhance cybersecurity defense and the armed forces’ digital resilience to safeguard Taiwan’s digital territory.
The Chinese ministry yesterday claimed that the command, since its establishment in June in 2017, has been engaging in cyberattacks and infiltration activities against China.
The command set up the Cyberwarfare Wing, and collaborated with external partners such as hackers and cybersecurity firms allegedly to infiltrate China’s key infrastructure systems, including waterworks, power grid, natural gas networks, heat networks, telecommunications and cameras, the Chinese ministry said.
It also said it has identified the command’s four serving military personnel and published what it said was their personal data, including their birthday, ID number and headshots.
The command allegedly sent phishing or counterpropaganda e-mails to core departments of the Chinese Communist Party, government agencies, military or companies, it said.
The command allegedly gained control of Chinese live streaming platforms, smart monitors, Internet protocol broadcast systems, or accounts and passwords of Web portals via hacking, and published counterpropaganda content, it said.
The command allegedly cultivated many automated accounts to influence public opinion by circulating disinformation online, the Chinese ministry said.
It also claimed that the command has been using the name “Anonymous64” to disseminate disinformation on social media since 2023.
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