Johannesburg: In response to what Taiwan claims is a growing cyber threat from China, it has set up a unit to create a comprehensive Internet shield against hackers, the country’s intelligence chief has said.
Tsai Teh-sheng, head of the island’s National Security Bureau, described the perceived cyber threat from China as ‘very severe’, after he was asked to evaluate it in parliament by Kuomintang legislator Lin Yu-fang.
According to news24, Tsai said ‘the types of their Internet hacking are changing as their targets gradually diversify, ranging from military secrets, high-tech and business secrets to infrastructure’.
He said that with the capabilities, they could sabotage Taiwan’s infrastructure and spoil financial order whenever needed, the report said.
Tsai said that China had been stepping up its cyber attacks against the country to new levels that have alarmed President Ma Ying-jeou, the initiator of the detente with China.
The accusations from Taiwan come a day after security researchers told a United States congressional panel that China was using massive amounts of money and resources into cyber attacks aimed at stealing business secrets, the report added.
Last month, a report from US security firm Mandiant said a unit of China’s People’s Liberation Army had stolen hundreds of terabytes of data from at least 141 organisations, mostly based in the United States.
According to the report, President Barack Obama weighed in on the issue last week, saying that cyber threats affecting US firms and infrastructure were increasing, and some were ‘state sponsored’.
New Chinese premier Li Keqiang has rejected America’s accusations of hacking, saying that Beijing did not support cyber spying after Obama stepped up rhetoric on the issue, the report added.
ANI
