January 12^th – Just days ahead of a critical presidential election, Taiwan has battled an alarming number of cyber attacks. The interference has, reportedly, been quite sophisticated.

Taiwanese government agencies alone are contending with an estimated five million cyber attacks per day. Attacks have also been carried out against the country’s technology and critical infrastructure entities, with exact numbers unknown.

Google’s Cloud cyber threat intelligence firm, Mandiant, confirmed seeing a substantial volume of espionage operations executed against the nation of Taiwan, which China widely views as a rogue province that should remain under its control.

Taiwan cyber attacks

Current cyber disruptions targeting Taiwan are clearly intended to overwhelm and crash networks. In the final quarter of 2023, attacks surged by 3,370 percent year-over-year increase, according to a report from Cloudflare.

Taiwanese Vice President Lai Ching-te, who is running for president, rebuked the attacks, calling them the most serious cyber attacks ever observed.

In the event that Taiwanese companies can’t operate appropriately, repercussions will be felt at the global level, especially in relation to the semiconductor industry.

AI-powered content

The volume of attacks is more challenging to quantify than previously on account of hackers’ sophisticated use of artificial intelligence.

Taiwan is also using generative AI to help soften and smooth out disinformation campaigns; it’s looking at best practices around AI and leveraging them at-scale to contend with irksome behavior.

Chinese response

As indicated earlier, the cyber attacks, likely carried out by China, aim to sow discord and disinformation.

“The Chinese government’s position on cyber security is consistent and clear. We firmly oppose and combat cyberattacks of any kind,” offered Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington D.C.

Pengyu added that Beijing hopes that the election will “be conducive to cross-Strait peace and stability.”

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