The cyberattacks on Taiwan's government increased dramatically in 2024. It basically doubled from the previous year to an incredible average of 2.4 million attacks per day. Yes, per day. The majority of these digital attacks were directed by Chinese cyber forces, according to Taiwan's National Security Bureau, highlighting how fraught cross-strait relations have become, Reuters said.

Taiwan has long complained of "grey-zone harassment" from China, a tactic that obscures the line between daily military exercises and spy balloons drifting suspiciously close to the island and, of course, constant cyberattacks, as Beijing escalates pressure on the democratically governed island to accept its sovereignty claim.

Taiwan's Cyber Defense Under Pressure

The figures are staggering: Taiwan's Government Service Network (GSN) registered a daily average of 2.4 million cyberattacks in 2024, compared with "only" 1.2 million a day in 2023. Among the top targets? Telecommunications, transportation, and defense sectors, all critical to the island's infrastructure.

China's Taiwan Affairs Office, when reached for comment, chose its go-to move-silence. Meanwhile, China continues to deny any involvement in hacking. (Sound familiar?) But the world isn't buying it - especially the United States, which just accused Chinese hackers of filching documents from the U.S. Treasury Department.

Coordinated Cyber Assaults

The Taiwanese report suggested that China's cyber forces were not merely opportunistic - they were strategic. Most of the assaults coincided with Chinese military exercises around the island. Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, for instance, sought to crash websites belonging to Taiwan's transportation and financial institutions, adding digital disorder to military bullying.

China's big show of force included two major exercises last year, dubbed "Joint Sword - 2024A and B," staged in May and October. Clearly, Beijing was playing for maximum effect, using both physical and cyber warfare to turn up the heat on Taiwan.

Hacking Beyond the Battlefield

The report did not mince words, describing how China's hackers were targeting the emails of Taiwanese civil servants and using social engineering schemes to siphon sensitive information. Employing advanced persistent threats (APTs), backdoor software and other techniques, the cyber forces sought to penetrate critical arteries in the nation such as highways and ports.

The goal? In order to interfere with government operations and gain an advantage in politics and military strategy to technology and economics. While many of these attempts were successfully detected and blocked, the sheer volume of attacks paints a grim picture of China's escalating cyber warfare capabilities.

"Such efforts aim to disrupt Taiwan's government operations and secure strategic advantages," the report noted. "Although many attacks have been thwarted, the growing numbers highlight the increasingly severe nature of China's hacking activities."