Taiwan says China's cyberattacks double as Yellen raises concern to China after Treasury attack

Taiwan says China's cyberattacks double as Yellen raises concern to China after Treasury attack
by AFP Staff Writers
Taipei (AFP) Jan 6, 2025

Chinese hackers were involved in most of the cyberattacks against Taiwan last year, which doubled to a daily average of 2.4 million, Taiwanese security officials said.

China regards Taiwan as part of its territory and for years has been ramping up military, diplomatic and political pressure on the island to accept its claims of sovereignty.

Taiwan says cyberattacks have also increased as Beijing uses a range of "greyzone" methods to harass the island -- tactics that fall short of an act of war.

Most of the daily attacks received by Taiwan's Government Service Network were attributed to China's "cyber force", the National Security Bureau said in a report on Sunday.

Defence, telecommunications and transport were among the top targets, with many of the cyberattacks "effectively detected and blocked", it said.

"The growing numbers of attacks pinpoint the increasingly severe nature of China's hacking activities," the report said.

"Its techniques have become increasingly sophisticated and covered a wide range of targets, such as government agencies, critical infrastructure and high-tech manufacturing industry."

Chinese hackers carried out Distributed Denial of Service attacks on Taiwan's transport and financial sectors when Beijing held military drills near the island, "intending to intensify the harassment effect and military intimidation", the bureau said.

Several countries, notably the United States, have voiced alarm in recent years at what they say is hacking activity backed by Beijing targeting their governments, militaries and businesses.

China has denied the allegations, previously insisting it opposes and cracks down on all forms of cyberattacks.

Beijing last week rejected accusations that a China state-sponsored actor was behind a cyber breach at the US Treasury Department, calling the claims "groundless".

Yellen raises 'serious concern' to China after US Treasury cyberattack
Washington (AFP) Jan 7, 2025 - US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen raised concerns Monday to Beijing about "malicious cyber activity" by Chinese state-sponsored actors, days after her department reported such a breach.

The incident, which the US Treasury Department disclosed last week, happened in December and resulted in access to some of its workstations and unclassified documents.

In a virtual meeting with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, Yellen "expressed serious concern about malicious cyber activity by PRC state-sponsored actors," the Treasury said in a statement, referring to the People's Republic of China.

Yellen also flagged the impact of such issues on the US-China relationship, the statement said.

But Beijing has rejected accusations that a state-sponsored actor was behind the cyberattack, calling the claims "groundless."

The Chinese foreign ministry said previously that Beijing "has always opposed all forms of hacker attacks, and we are even more opposed to the spread of false information against China for political purposes."

Yellen's talks with He come shortly before the United States is due to see a change in leadership, with President-elect Donald Trump returning to the White House later this month.

Trump's first presidential term saw Washington engage in an escalating tariff war with Beijing, and temperatures could rise again between the world's two biggest economies.

On Monday, Yellen warned Beijing too of "China's non-market policies and practices and industrial overcapacity," which would weigh on bilateral ties unless addressed, the statement said.

Besides discussing macroeconomic developments in both countries, Yellen and He also took stock of efforts by economic and financial working groups that they jointly established previously.

"Both sides agreed about the importance of communication and contact," the Treasury Department said.