Taipei, Aug. 12 (CNA) The website of the National Assembly was hacked Thursday for the second time in a week, causing the paralysis of a mainframe computer.
It is believed that the National Assembly's website was hacked by a mainland Chinese computer specialist following a previous intrusion Tuesday, in which some files were replaced. Thursday's attack was more serious, however, as viruses introduced into the system by the hacker damaged computer equipment.
Fortunately, a firewall -- a device that protects data from outside intruders -- kept most of the information safe, said National Assembly Secretary-General Chen Chaun.
After attempts to restart the computer failed, National Assembly officials went to the police and the National Security Bureau to report the crime. They also sought technical help from the machine's vendor.
Amid concerns that mainland China will launch an attack on Taiwan under a similar Internet warfare model, various organizations have been instructed to look into the origin of recent intrusions and come up with protective measures.
The Ninth Investigation Corps of the Criminal Investigation Bureau believes an attack against the Control Yuan's website on Aug. 9 and recent attacks against the National Assembly's website were committed by different people, as the attack against the National Assembly site crippled it, whereas the one against the Control Yuan merely resulted in a pro-mainland Chinese message appearing on the site's homepage.
Police officers do not exclude the possibility that the attacks were retaliation for President Lee Teng-hui's recent "special state-to-state relationship" declaration.
In light of the series of attacks, Director Cheng Nien-hsing of a Taiwan computer center for emergency measures admitted that the center failed to detect the intrusion into the National Assembly's website.
Cheng said there is no system that is completely free from flaws, and he suggested that the best way to keep hackers from further intruding is to reduce the system's external connections. He also suggested that extra access points into systems be disconnected.
(By Amanda Chang)
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