Taiwan says it was hit by ‘abnormal’ AI-assisted cyber-attack

Taiwan did not say who was behind the AI cyber-attacks, but it has in recent years complained about China’s pressure on the democratically governed island through acts of ‘hybrid warfare’. Photograph: Sean Pavone/Alamy

Taiwan says it detected AI-assisted cyber-attacks on government agencies that came from overseas last month, a new kind of threat that has been reported as “first-of-a-kind breach”.

The Ministry of Digital Affairs (MDA) said its cybersecurity monitoring units ‌detected the “abnormal attack” targeting government agencies, which began on 20 July. The National Institute of Cyber Security issued a series of warning alerts while it investigated.