TAIPEI: Taiwan is suffering over 100 million cyber attacks on an average annually, and most of them are ‘reasonably suspected to be originating from China,’ said Taiwanese Deputy-Minister of digital affairs Lee Huai jen on Wednesday.
This is three to four times more than most of our neighbouring countries that are much larger than Taiwan, he said.
“We have to grapple with cyber interference from China every day,” he told a delegation of international reporters who are on a visit to Taiwan on the invitation of its Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA).
Identifying disinformation campaign and cyber attacks as two major challenges, Huai jen said that during the US Speaker Nancy Palosi’s visit to Taiwan last year, China unleashed a huge cyber offensive at Taiwan.
Taiwan birthed a new and exclusive ministry for digital affairs in August 2022 to defend itself, he said.
Governments need to provide immediate and fast clarification to disinformation. Doing it in a humorous way will make the counter go viral on the web, he said.
Asked about challenges India too has been facing on disinformation and cyber attack fronts and if there was more scope between the two countries to work out a strategy, he said India was a software giant while Taiwan had cutting-edge tools. “We are ready to exchange experience and expertise. Taiwan is always happy to work with like-minded democracies. We are open to more conversations with the government as well as the industry concerned. Cyber security is a good point to start with,” he said.
Huai jen further said Taiwan has now deployed Web3.0 for its official uses and websites, and the ministry is now able to disseminate information across the world and defend against cyber attacks.
In order to counter disinformation Taiwan government has been encouraging civil groups that work with tech companies and are active on social media platforms. Media industry to help correct the issue, he said.
