15,000 cyberattacks occur in Taiwan every second, according to the minister, which is four times higher than the norm.

According to a government minister, Taiwan is four times more likely than the typical nation to be the target of cyberattacks. At the CYBERDAY 2024 Information Security Industry Day in Tainan earlier this week, Taiwanese Digital Minister Huang Yen-nun (黃彥男) informed attendees that hackers try to get past Taiwan's digital defenses an incredible 15,000 times every second. This digital assault is said to be the most intensive globally and is four times the average number.

In terms of geopolitics, Taiwan is widely recognized as a contentious political issue and a possible site of a significant East Asian military war. Around the sweet potato-shaped island, military equipment such as ships and airplanes cautiously maneuver around one another, but to date (touch wood), no major incident has been caused. On the other hand, Taiwan is now seen as a "first-level war zone," in the cyber world. The Ministry of Digital Affairs was established in 2022 and is led by Huang Yen-nun. In some ways, revealing these numbers to the public may be unsettling, but stakeholders should be encouraged to know that legislators are cognizant of the issues and are actively working to improve cybersecurity for both government and industry.

According to reports, the National Security Bureau has also been entrusted by the Taiwanese government with establishing a national cybersecurity response center. By using the nation's best intelligence agency in this manner and providing a framework for information exchange, the island's private and public interests should be safeguarded. Apart from safeguarding data within Taiwan, the aforementioned endeavor shows that the nation takes trust-building with those who operate or trade with the island seriously.

Who might be responsible for these very severe cyberattacks against Taiwan is not mentioned in the source report. Attacks are most likely the result of a combination of geopolitical enemies and groups acting only for financial or commercial advantage. The pro-Russian hacker collective NoName057 claimed in a report earlier this year that Taipei Songshan Airport, financial institutions, and government organizations in Taiwan were all subject to DDoS attacks. Although this wave of attacks only caused traffic, it serves as an example of the variety of attack methods Taiwan must contend with.