A group of bipartisan lawmakers introduced a bill in April that would strengthen Taiwan’s cyber defenses and help it defend itself against Chinese cyberattacks.
Experts say this recent action shows how the U.S. is shifting its focus from the Russia-Ukraine war to the China-Taiwan conflict as tensions continue to rise in the Indo-Pacific region.
“I think that this is one way to try to be proactive in terms of ensuring that if something were to happen — and knowing that cyberspace is going to be vulnerable — that we’re going to try to bolster up defenses as much as we can early on,” said Alexandra Seymour, an associate fellow for the technology and national security program at the Center for a New American Security, a non-partisan think tank.
She added that cyberspace is increasingly being integrated into military operations and suspects that this bill was introduced in part because of increasing fears that China may invade Taiwan at some point.
James Turgal, vice president of cyber consultancy Optiv, who supports the bill, said that Taiwan has been a target of Chinese cyber operations over the years.
“China is probably the number one prolific offensive cyber nation state out there,” Turgal said, adding that the East Asian country is likely taking a page out of Russia’s cyber playbook and applying it to its own situation with Taiwan.
When introducing the bill, the lawmakers said that China, which has become an emerging power in cyberspace, has launched about 20 to 40 million cyberattacks every month in 2019 against Taiwan, with some later being used against the U.S.
Read more in a full report at TheHill.com.
