Security News > 2007 > May > Taiwan claims upper hand in hackers' war with rival China

http://www.nwfdailynews.com/article/4709 By Annie Huang Associated Press Writer May 8th, 2007 TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) - Taiwan's advanced computer technology helps the military fend off hacker attacks in continuing virtual skirmishes with rival China, a military official said Tuesday. Chinese hacker offensives, mostly carried out by sending e-mails with destructive programs, are a daily threat for the Taiwanese military, said Maj. Gen. Chai Hui-jen, the Ministry of Defense's senior computer security specialist. "We receive massive amounts of e-mails everyday, many attached with Trojan horse ... programs, which are found to have connections to either Beijing or Hong Kong," she told a ministry news conference. However, the island's status as one of the most advanced computer makers in the world helps it cope with the onslaught, she said. Taiwan "is superior in technical skills to the mainland," she said in reference to the country's advantage in electronic warfare. Taiwan and China split in 1949 after a civil war, and computer hacking is part of the low-level conflict that persists between the two sides. Taiwanese officials believe Beijing would try to cripple Taiwanese computer systems as a prelude to a real attack. The mainland has threatened an attack if Taiwan moves to formalize its de facto independence. Taiwan's computer security was called into question last month when Chinese hackers breached a computer used by a Taiwanese military official and obtained a seating chart at a planned military exercise to be attended by President Chen Shui-bian and other senior officials. The Defense Ministry says the breach occurred because an official downloaded the seating chart to his home computer, where the government's normally high computer security standards were not in effect. The ministry has since stepped up its efforts to police the downloading of classified information to personal computers. Chai said military computers are equipped with a special system to isolate them from other computers and are well protected from hackers. "We've closely monitored the hacking activities to ensure the security of our military command systems," she said. Chai acknowledged that in the event of war with Beijing, Taiwan would also try to hack into Chinese computers, but declined to give details. She said Taiwanese law permits the military to draft civilian computer experts if hostilities break out, but expressed the hope that such a move would never be necessary. "We hope (computer) attacks can be reduced so everyone can freely utilize cyberspace," she said. _____________________________________________________ Attend Black Hat USA, July 28-August 2 in Las Vegas, the world's premier technical event for ICT security experts. Featuring 30 hands-on training courses and 90 Briefings presentations with lots of new content and new tools. Network with 4,000 delegates from 70 nations. Visit product displays by 30 top sponsors in a relaxed setting. Rates increase on June 1 so register today. http://www.blackhat.com

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