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Taiwan to expand cyber security force: defense minister

ROC Central News Agency

2013/04/29 20:58:23

Taipei, April 29 (CNA) Minister of National Defense Kao Hua-chu said Monday that the military will establish a new information and electronic warfare squadron to better protect the country from cyber attack.

Fielding questions at a hearing of the Legislative Yuan's Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on the government's deployment against hacking attacks and China's expansion of its online forces, Kao said the military's electronic and information warfare command center currently has three squadrons to cope with cyber attacks.

To enhance the military's capacity in this regard, Kao said, the military will set up the fourth squad later this year.

He said the country needs to invest more to beef up its cyber combat capabilities.

The three branches of the military will conduct cyber warfare training exercises with various government departments this year, the minister added.

According to military sources, Taiwan's military set up an information and electronic warfare command headquarters even earlier than the United States.

Speaking on the same occasion, Chang Kuang-yuan, deputy director-general of the National Security Bureau, said China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) began to expand its cyber attack capacity in 2002 and has since invested heavily in its online military buildup.

Chang said the PLA should have more than 100,000 members in service in its cyber attack force, commonly known as the "online blue army."

The PLA's annual budget for its cyber attack squad is estimated at more than US$80 million, he added.

Moreover, he went on, the Chinese authorities have also recruited 6,000 to 10,000 students to join their cyber attack force incubation programs.

Ruling Kuomintang legislators Lin Yu-fang and Chan Kai-chen said the Ministry of National Defense should follow suit by recruiting people from the private sector to join the country's cyber attack force, as Taiwan is one of the main targets of Chinese cyber attacks.

(By Rogge Chen and Sofia Wu)