Mysterious balloons hovering in the airspace of North America, understandably, cause panic. Dozens of similar flying objects, which probably originate from China, have been spotted in Taiwan in recent years.
After the US shot down four spy balloons, a Taiwan Defense Ministry official said Taipei could do the same if it was “excited enough” about them.
What could be scarier than “flying spies”? For Taiwan – attacks by Chinese hackers. On Friday, President Tsai Ing-wen unveiled a new cybersecurity research institute.
“Information security is national security,” she said.
China has long used Taiwan as a testing ground for its cyber capabilities, but the Tsai administration has taken the threat more seriously since last year’s massive hacker attack, which coincided with a visit by Nancy Pelosi. The ex-speaker of the House of Representatives became the highest-ranking US official to visit Taiwan in the past 25 years.
Beijing reacted to the visit as a provocation and began attacking government units in Taiwan — setting a new daily record for cyberattacks that was 23 times higher than the previous one. The hacks also targeted the local chain of 7-Eleven stores, which displayed the message “Get out of Taiwan.”
China has rejected accusations of sponsoring hackers, and Taiwan has realized how vulnerable it is to cyberattacks.
“You go to a minimarket and see a robbery, and then you go to the train station, where you see a similar connection. Go online and can’t access Taiwan’s president’s website. The first impression is how powerful China’s capabilities are and how compromised our internal systems are,” said Sylvia Yeh, an analyst at research firm TeamT5.
Meanwhile, the Taipei organization Doublethink Lab documented 2,900 cases of misinformation targeting Taiwan in the months between Pelosi’s visit and the US midterm elections in November.
“Perception warfare is a very important part of China’s overall strategy,” said Ming Xuan Wu, head of Doublethink.
In response, Taiwan’s government created a digital ministry under a new cyber institute; measures have been taken to support and develop local “cyber talents”; large fines have been introduced for corporate data breaches.
According to Bloomberg, at least 37 US lawmakers visited Taiwan last year, and that trend will continue in 2023. House Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul said last week he would lead a bipartisan congressional delegation to the island in the spring, and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he plans to make a personal trip.
Beijing is likely to use more powerful cyber tactics against Taiwan, especially ahead of the presidential election next January. Analysts fear possible escalations in connection with what happened during Pelosi’s visit – such that could, for example, cause power outages. Such a prospect is, indeed, much more dangerous than a spy balloon.
Source: Bloomberg
