In a recent cyberattack, pro-Russian hackers have reportedly targeted and temporarily disrupted the Taiwan Stock Exchange website, as per local media reports. The incident, which occurred on Friday, saw the exchange experience “unstable service for a short period of time” at 3 p.m. local time. This disruption was attributed to “a large number of foreign IPs launching invalid queries” on the exchange’s network, as reported by CNBC.
While the securities market and related businesses remained unaffected, the network disruption was attributed to a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack by a pro-Russian hacker group. Local media outlets believe the attack was aimed at the Taiwanese government and financial entities, including airports and tax bureaus.
The Taipei Times cited information security company Radware, suggesting that the attack was a retaliation for comments made by Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te in September. President Lai had criticized China’s territorial claims on Taiwan, suggesting they were more about achieving Western Pacific hegemony than about territorial rights. This stance challenged China’s position, which considers Taiwan as part of its territory and has not ruled out the use of force against the island.
This incident is the latest in a series of cyberattacks involving Russia and China. In June 2023, Taiwanese Foreign Minister Jaushieh Joseph Wu warned that Xi Jinping’s threat against Taiwan is much more serious than what is visible. Furthermore, in July, Microsoft Corp. reportedly informed over a dozen Texas state agencies and public universities that Russian state-sponsored hackers accessed their emails through a breach. Additionally, the United States has been facing a significant threat to its water systems, with China, Russia, and Iran identified as the primary culprits.
The disruption of the Taiwan Stock Exchange highlights the growing threat of cyberattacks in the region and the increasing tensions between major world powers. It is a reminder of the vulnerability of critical infrastructure to these attacks and the importance of robust cybersecurity measures.
