Taiwan prepares for cyber 'World War III'; alleges 'most attacks from China'

Amid rising military pressure from China, Taiwan is preparing itself for cyber “World War III,” self-governing island’s he of cybersecurity told CNN. While speaking to media outlet, Chien Hung-wei said that Taiwan is using dramatic measures to guard against technological vulnerabilities. island is employing roughly two dozen computer experts to deliberately attack government’s systems and help it defend against what Taiwanese officials estimate are some 20 million to 40 million cyberattacks every month. 

Taiwan has said that it has been able to defend against overwhelming majority of attacks, which island believes are coming from neighbouring China. Chien informed that successful breaches number is in hundreds, while only a handful are what government classifies as “serious”. He ded that based on attackers’ actions and methodology, Taiwanese officials have a “high degree of confidence that many attacks originated from our neighbour,” referring to mainland China. 

China calls Taipei's accusations 'groundless' 

Furr, Chien said that operation of Taiwanese government highly relies on internet. He said that island’s critical infrastructure, such as gas, water and electricity are highly digitized, making it easy for island to fall victim if network security is not robust enough. Chien even went on to reveal that Taiwan suspects that Chinese state-backed hackers were behind at least one major malware attack on island last year. 

Chien, Taiwanese cybersecurity department leer, reportedly said that self-governing island has been subject to tens of millions of attacks monthly, a trend government has recorded for at least last few years. But he also said Taiwan has been able to defend against most attempts and serious breaches resulting in stolen data or paralyzed services numbered about 10 over last year.

Beijing, on or hand, has repeatedly denied launching cyberattacks against Taiwan and ors. According to CNN, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs called Island’s accusations “groundless and purely malicious”. China's Taiwan Affairs Office also criticized Taiwanese authorities for using cyberattacks to smear mainland as a "habitual trick," and to shift public's focus away from island's recent COVID-19 outbreak.

Tensions between China-Taiwan 

Meanwhile, it is worth noting that Taiwan and China have been governed separately since end of Chinese Civil War more than 70 years ago. While Chinese Communist Party has never ruled Taiwan, Beijing considers island to be an "inseparable part" of its territory and has repeatedly even threatened to use force if necessary to prevent island from formally declaring independence. Amid tensions, in recent years, China has stepped up its military pressure on Taiwan, prompting self-governing island to alert its air defences as well. 

Beijing has reportedly also released military propaganda warning Taipei to "prepare for war" as it establishes stronger ties with United States. Now, experts have voiced concerns not just about prospect of military warfare, but cyber warfare, too.

(Image: AP/Pixabay)