Taiwan faces nearly 1 million monthly cyber attacks from China

Chinese hackers launch an average of 900,000 attacks on Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan (LY) every month, the Taipei Times reported, citing a statement from the legislature’s information technology (IT) department.

The Legislative Yuan is the supreme legislative organ, exercising legislative power on behalf of the people.

IT Department head Cheng Hui-pin gave this information in response to questions from Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker Chung Chia-pin. According to the Taipei Times, Chung asked questions about the security and quality of the legislature’s WiFi during the review of the LY’s budget by the Judiciary and Organic Law and Legislation Committee last Thursday.

The Legislative Yuan’s network is connected to devices containing sensitive information that could harm national security if the system is compromised, Chung said, adding that the Legislature’s WiFi is slow and experiences frequent outages.

Moreover, he/she said, some microphones used by committees of the legislature were so loud that they could damage hearing and make functioning in adjacent rooms impossible, stressing that the IT department should submit a report on these problems.

Chung said the IT department must submit a report on these problems within three months or its budget could be suspended.

Addressing the question, Cheng said cybersecurity is a top priority and that IT technicians are detecting a large number of Chinese-origin cyber attacks targeting the legislature every month.

The department regularly reviews the legislature’s cybersecurity as required under the Cybersecurity Management Act, he/she said, adding that a detailed report on the issues raised by the committee will be compiled and presented when ready.

According to the Taipei Times, after talks between Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) committee members, lawmakers issued a resolution requiring the IT department to address the issues without halting its budget.

The IT department has been directed to test all equipment connected to the Legislature’s network for security and check audio equipment. MPs also recommended installing soundproofing in chambers