Taiwan is preparing for a drastic increase in Chinese cyber-attacks in a bid to influence the result of Taiwan’s municipal and local elections on November 24, 2018 and 2020 presidential election. “We anticipate in the run-up to elections at the end of this year and continuing until the 2020 presidential elections Taiwan will become a global hotspot for cyber attacks and fake news,” said a spokesperson for President Tsai-ing wen (蔡英文), reported the Financial Times of London. Recent months have seen an increase in Chinese-led cyber-attacks against Taiwan, with the most public example being the hacking of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) website on July 3. According to a Taiwanese cyber security official, the majority of cyber attacks against Taiwan originate in China, and that China instigates up to 40 million cyber attacks against Taiwan per month.
China is now seeking to influence the outcomes of upcoming elections in Taiwan in its favor, and this is not dissimilar to recent Russian actions, said Lauren Dickey, a Washington-based analyst and researcher at King’s College London.
“This covert cyber interference — taking place across websites, social networks and mobile chat apps — will continue to increase,” said Danielle Cave, a senior analyst at the International Cyber Policy Centre at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.
Full Article: Taiwan prepares for spike in Chinese cyber-attacks in lead-up to elections | Taiwan News.