Taipei [Taiwan], October 21 : Taiwan’s National Security Bureau (NSB) has warned that a dramatic increase in cyberattacks and suspected Chinese influence operations could threaten Taiwan’s security ahead of its November 28 local elections, as reported by The Taipei Times.
According to The Taipei Times, the Government Service Network (GSN) recorded 185.6 million cyberattacks in July, surpassing the combined total reported during the first three months of the year. The NSB said the network faced an average of 2.58 million attacks daily as the volume of suspicious activity rose between June and July.
The intelligence agency has not ruled out the possibility that the attacks form part of Beijing’s efforts to interfere in the upcoming local elections. Previous spikes included approximately 100 million attacks in April last year, 300 million in May and 200 million during Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim’s European visit in November, the report said.
According to the NSB, suspected Chinese hackers targeted academic institutions, telecommunications networks and defence industry supply chains during the first half of this year. The operations allegedly sought to disrupt Taiwan’s governance, undermine defence policymaking, compromise international cooperation and steal sensitive technologies.
The bureau had also raised concerns about the growing sophistication of Beijing-linked cyber operations. The NSB warned that artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly being used to identify vulnerabilities, search for targets, discover zero-day exploits and facilitate malware distribution through email.
Greater automation has reportedly enabled hackers to identify weaknesses and potential infiltration points more efficiently.
Beyond cyberattacks, Beijing could exploit domestic divisions over energy, food safety and national defence to influence voters through fabricated opinion polls, misleading local election reports and AI-generated content, the agency said, as highlighted by The Taipei Times.
Suspicious social media accounts published 2.5 million posts containing controversial or disputed information between January and September, a 48 per cent increase from 1.69 million during the corresponding period last year, as reported by The Taipei Times.