Chinese cyberattacks on Taiwan double to 2.4 million daily attempts in 2024

Taiwan faced an unprecedented surge in cyberattacks during 2024, with government systems targeted an average of 2.4 million times daily, according to a new report from the island nation’s National Security Bureau (NSB).

The figure represents a twofold increase from the 1.2 million daily attacks recorded in 2023.

The report, titled “Analysis on China’s Cyberattack Techniques in 2024”, revealed that Taiwan’s national intelligence community documented 906 cases of cyberattacks against government agencies and private sector organisations last year, marking a 20 per cent increase from 752 cases in 2023.

Government agencies bore the brunt of these attacks, accounting for more than 80 per cent of all incidents. The telecommunications industry saw the most dramatic rise in targeting, with attacks increasing by 650 per cent, while the transportation and defence supply chain sectors experienced increases of 70 per cent and 57 per cent respectively.

The NSB report highlighted that Chinese cyber forces employed various sophisticated techniques, including “Living off-the-land” methods to evade detection systems, and targeted vulnerabilities in Netcom devices used by Taiwanese government agencies.

Of particular concern was the coordination between cyber attacks and military activities. The report noted that Chinese forces conducted distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks on Taiwan’s transportation and financial sectors concurrent with People’s Liberation Army military exercises, “intending to intensify the harassment effect and military intimidation.”

The bureau also revealed that Chinese operatives have been targeting civil servants’ emails through social engineering attacks to steal confidential information. Additionally, the report documented cases where personal data of Taiwanese nationals was stolen and sold on dark web forums.

The NSB emphasised that while many attacks were successfully blocked, the rising frequency indicates an increasingly severe threat from Chinese hacking activities. The bureau has called for heightened vigilance among Taiwan’s population, urging “all nationals to prioritise cybersecurity and remain vigilant against cyber threats posed by China.”