Taiwan seeks stronger cyber ties to counter China

Taiwan is seeking a stronger cybersecurity partnership with the United States in order to block what it describes as mounting cyberattacks from China.

Leaders in Taiwan have expressed interest in joining a major anti-hacking drill organized by the United States, known as “Cyber Storm.” The drill, which takes place biennially, included 11 countries in 2013.

{mosads}”The U.S. has the Cyber Storm drill — we were not invited. We would like to be invited,” Vice Premier Simon Chang told Reuters.

While China officially denies hacking Taiwan, security experts say the state is a major target, given longstanding animosity from Beijing.

Taiwan fielded more cyberattacks than any other Asia-Pacific country during the first half of last year, according to FireEye, and is seen as a testing ground for Chinese hacking efforts.

“Taiwan has no enemy in the international community except you-know-who. Who in the world would try to hack Taiwan?” Chang, a former director with Google, told the wire service.

“I don’t think raising this issue [with China] is any help,” he continued. “You’re only going to let them know that you know what they’re doing. It’s only going to make them more cautious and more crafty.”

U.S. officials might be persuaded to include Taiwan in “Cyber Storm,” given the possibility that China could use those attacks to infiltrate American firms. At the same time, involving Taiwan would likely be seen as an affront by China’s leadership.

The last “Cyber Storm” exercise involved Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hungary, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland, as well as the United States.