Pro-Russian hacking group targets 45 Taiwanese entities: MODA

Taipei, Sept. 14 (CNA) A pro-Russian hacking group has hit 45 Taiwanese entities, including government agencies and financial firms, with Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks this week, according to the Ministry of Digital Affairs (MODA).

The pro-Russian group used a network of zombie computers controlled via servers to launch DDoS attacks targeting not only Taiwan but also critical infrastructure in the United States, Canada and the European Union, Minister of Digital Affairs Yennun Huang (黃彥男) said at a press conference Saturday.

DDoS attacks are malicious attempts to disrupt the normal traffic of a targeted server, service or network by overwhelming the target or its surrounding infrastructure.

NoName057, a pro-Russian hacking group, claimed it launched the attacks on Taiwan's government agencies, financial firms and Taipei Songshan Airport.

Huang said that a total of 45 entities in Taiwan had been targeted, but the impact was short-term and most quickly resumed normal operations.

The MODA said affected institutions included the Maritime and Port Bureau, local tax authorities, high-level central government agencies, military units, and fully or partly government-owned financial and securities organizations. Banks were the primary targets in the private sector.

The MODA added that science parks where tech companies like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) are based were not targeted.

Hsieh Tsui-chuan (謝翠娟), the director-general of MODA's Administration for Cyber Security, said the agency received intelligence about the incoming attacks on Sept. 10 and that relevant central and local government units were subsequently informed.

With the alert level against cyberattacks raised to that normally seen around a presidential election, critical infrastructure has been required to report the status of attacks every day, Hsieh noted.

Deputy Digital Minister Lin Yi-jing (林宜敬) said DDoS attacks are designed to create website traffic congestion, but the hackers did not hack into or take control of the affected entities' systems.

Thus, no data was lost, stolen, or tampered with, he added.