Tech

Taiwan hampered by cyber attacks on convenience stores, train stations on Nancy Pelosi’s visit


When US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made a brief visit to Taiwan this week infuriating Beijing, the welcome she received from government officials and the public stood in stark contrast to a different kind of message. began to appear elsewhere on the island.

On Wednesday, at some branches of the 7-11 convenience store in Taiwan, the television screen behind the cashier suddenly switched to displaying the words: “Warmonger Pelosi, get out of Taiwan!”

The island’s largest 24-hour convenience store chain has been the victim of what the Taiwanese government is calling an unprecedented number of cyberattacks on government websites belonging to the president’s office. ministries of foreign affairs and defense as well as infrastructure such as screens at stations, in protest Pelosi’s visit.

Taipei did not directly blame the attacks on the Chinese government but said that the attacks on government websites – which crippled their operations – originated from addresses in China. China and Russia. It also said companies with altered screens used Chinese software that may contain backdoors or Trojan horse malware.

Taiwan’s Digital Minister Audrey Tang said the volume of cyberattacks on Taiwanese government units on Tuesday, before and during Pelosi’s arrival, surpassed 15,000 gigabits, 23 times higher than the previous record. previous daily record.

Lo Ping-cheng, Taiwan’s Cabinet spokesman, on Wednesday said the government had stepped up security at critical infrastructure including power plants and airports, and increased the alert level. Cybersecurity reports in government offices. On Thursday, he said no related damage had been discovered so far.

“Government agencies have been very careful. Over the past few days, in terms of public security, we have established a three-level government security and communication mechanism, it has been tough enough and roomy enough. conservative, so these adjustments are beneficial.” he told a briefing.

Theater, instead of intimidation

Pelosi’s visit has sparked a backlash from the Chinese and Beijing public, who say the trip to the self-governing island, which they see as their territory, infringes on their sovereignty. On Thursday, China fired missiles around Taiwan as part of an unprecedented series of military exercises.

A cybersecurity research organization says attacks on Taiwanese government websites prior to Pelosi’s visit were likely launched by Chinese activist hackers, not the Chinese government. .

Hacker group APT 27, accused by Western authorities of being a Chinese state-sponsored group, claimed responsibility for the cyberattacks on Taiwan on Wednesday, said on Twitter. YouTube that they were made to protest the way Pelosi has defied China’s warnings during her visit. It also announced it had shut down 60,000 internet-connected devices in Taiwan.

When asked about the cyberattacks in Taiwan on Thursday during a regular briefing of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, a spokesman declined to comment. The Cyberspace Administration of China, the country’s internet regulator, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The cyberattacks, combined with China’s live-fire drills, provide Taiwan’s leaders with a preview of what an invasion from China would look like, experts say. .

In recent years, several reports from think tanks in Taiwan and the United States have highlighted the high probability that, in the event of a military attack on Taiwan, China will first launch a military strike. Cybersecurity attacks undermine Taiwan’s critical infrastructure, such as the country’s power grid. .

However, Eryk Waligora, a cyber threat intelligence expert at Accenture, said the latest ones appear to be “theater rather than threat” so far. He said past attacks, such as a campaign from November last year to February that forced some financial institutions in Taiwan to suspend online transactions, are technically more complex. and cause damage.

“There have certainly been much worse cyberattacks,” he said.

© Thomson Reuters 2022




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