MOFA beefs up official document security amid negligence accusation

Taipei, June 30 (CNA) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Tuesday it is taking steps to strengthen the security of its official document management system, after being accused of negligence over several suspected official document leaks in 2024 and 2025.

MOFA spokesman Hsiao Kuangwei (蕭光偉) said the ministry has been reviewing its electronic document management protocols and working to strengthen system security after discovering suspected leaks of official documents over the past two years.

It has put in place measures to counter hacking activities and will continue to enhance its cybersecurity protections and monitoring operations against new hacking techniques by working with other government agencies, Hsiao said, without elaborating.

Hsiao was responding to a Control Yuan investigative report released on June 26, which said that a total of 13 suspected MOFA documents had been found leaked and offered for sale on the dark web in 2024 and 2025.

The Control Yuan report called into question some of the responses taken previously by MOFA, saying that even after learning about the alleged leaks that took place in 2024, it was still unable to prevent the 2025 leaks.

"It is evident that MOFA has indeed been negligent in its information and communications security protections and the safeguarding of official confidential information," the Control Yuan report said.

"A review and improvements are urgently required to prevent such incidents from recurring," it said.

One of the alleged leaked documents concerned then-Vice President-elect Hsiao Bi-khim's (蕭美琴) customs declarations for alcoholic beverages when she returned to Taiwan from the United States.

Another was an official document assessing Taiwan's diplomatic ties with its remaining allies, according to the Control Yuan report.

Although prosecutors are still investigating the alleged leaks, the report said portions of the suspected leaked documents found online resembled authentic documents obtained by the Control Yuan.

The report said the repeated leaks could have been the work of state-sponsored Chinese hackers because they involved confidential foreign affairs information, but the carelessness of public servants and the illegal copying of some documents may also have contributed.

Hsiao did not say if or how MOFA was addressing potential issues with the human handling of documents.