《TAIPEI TIMES》 Government data breaches and theft rose 30％ last year

By Lee Hsin-fang / Staff reporter

Central and local government agencies reported 696 cases of data theft or cybersecurity breaches last year, an increase of 30 percent from 525 in 2020, Executive Yuan data showed.

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The majority, or 86.19 percent, were classified as level 1, the lowest level of security breach, while 11.44 percent were level 2 and 2.37 percent were level 3, the 2021 National Cybersecurity Assessment Report said.

None were level 4, which is classified as an intrusion to shut down the nation’s critical infrastructure and online systems, the report said.

The vast majority were level 1 and 2 cases, which are considered as causing minor damage, it said.

Of last year’s cases, 40.8 percent of cybersecurity breaches targeted central government ministries and agencies, while 59.2 percent targeted city, county or municipal government offices, the report said.

Breaches categorized as “unlawful access” made up 63.32 percent of cases, “system equipment problems” 12.19 percent, “attack on Web sites” 4.10 percent, “distributed denial of service attacks” 0.65 percent and other forms of attack 19.74 percent, it said.

Analysis from the report indicated most of the level 3 breaches were data theft due to loopholes or design flaws in operating systems, while data leaks had occurred for two consecutive years due to the use of a Google app that collects a person’s private information, which other people could peruse due to an error when setting the permissions for access.

Increased dangers are coming from ransomware attacks, which have impaired data access, Internet of Things apps for mobile devices, companies contracted to provide cybersecurity and IT management services being hacked, advanced persistent threats and civil servants falling prey to fraud schemes on social media platforms, the report said.

The report recommended focusing on implementing effective measures to protect against cybersecurity breaches and to safeguard databases.

Additional reporting by Jason Pan

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES