Major Cybersecurity Breach: Taiwan's biggest telecom hacked Sensitive data sold on the dark web

Taiwan's biggest telecom hacked Sensitive data sold on the dark web

Hackers took "important data," like military and government papers, from Taiwan's biggest telecom company and sold it on the dark web, according to the island's defense ministry.

The democratic island confirmed its most recent significant data breach after local news channel TVBS reported the hack of the telecom giant Chunghwa Telecom.

The TVBS report showed a picture of a message where hackers declared they were "selling 1.7 Terabytes of data from Chunghwa Telecom," which included government contracts.

The first examination of this situation suggests that hackers got hold of sensitive information from Chunghwa Telecom and sold it on the dark web. This information includes documents from the armed forces, foreign affairs ministry, coast guard, and other units, as confirmed by the defense ministry in a statement sent to AFP on Friday.

According to digital data experts, Taiwan is among the prime targets for cyber-security attacks globally. Some experts have proposed that the methods used against Taiwanese infrastructure show similarities to those employed by groups supported by the Chinese state.

Beijing says Taiwan belongs to them, and they haven't ruled out using force to take control of it.

The defense ministry stated that an Air Force contract found in the Chunghwa leak was "not confidential information, so there was no leakage of information."They also mentioned that there was no classified information in the communication between the Navy Department and Chunghwa. We've requested the contractor to improve its information security measures to avoid any future incidents, the statement mentioned.

The statement from the ministry and the TVBS report did not reveal the identity or location of the hackers.

Chunghwa, a company traded publicly, stated on Thursday to the Taiwan Stock Exchange that it had "conducted investigations to understand the cause of the suspected incident."At present, the company stated that there is no major effect on its operations, specifically mentioning potential losses from the data theft.

Government officials mentioned that continuous cyber threats are a type of "grey zone harassment" conducted by China almost every day. This includes flying military planes around the island and sending ships to its nearby waters.

Though not reaching clear acts of war, these tactics are sufficient to keep Taiwan's military and digital security agencies busy, according to experts.