Digital Siege Puts Taiwan’s Resilience to the Test
Taiwan is observing spikes in cyberattacks linked to key events or cross-strait relations. According to data from Taiwan’s Ministry of Digital Affairs, July 2024 marked the highest monthly volume of recorded cybersecurity incidents on government agencies, coinciding with Taiwan’s Han Kuang military exercises. Attacks that month exploited outdated software components, weak access controls and encryption failures.
In September 2024, cyber activity surged again after President Lai Ching-te publicly suggested that, given historical border conflicts, it was China—not Taiwan—that should be in a territorial dispute with Russia. Shortly afterwards, the pro-Russian hacker group NoName057 appeared to retaliate by launching distributed denial-of-service attacks against Taiwanese government websites.
Meanwhile, April’s spike in malicious activity was partly attributed to the 3 April earthquake, which disrupted network availability and exposed latent vulnerabilities. Several government agencies reported malware infections following the incident, suggesting that hostile actors may have timed or adapted their operations to take advantage of the confusion and reduced monitoring capacity during disaster response efforts.
Taiwan’s response has been assertive, multifaceted and increasingly institutionalised. Recognising the scale of the threat, Lai’s administration has redefined cybersecurity as a matter of national defence. A new National Cybersecurity Strategy, released in April 2025, outlined a more proactive posture, including zero-trust architecture, quantum-resilient encryption and the creation of a Joint National Cybersecurity Center.
Taiwan’s approach is also notable for its emphasis on transparency and civil society involvement. Fact-checking organizations, such as the Taiwan FactCheck Center and Cofacts, counter online misinformation, while digital literacy campaigns aim to build cognitive resilience. These efforts are complemented by voluntary cooperation with platforms such as Meta and Line to flag and debunk false content in real time. Rather than adopting censorship-heavy models, Taiwan relies on openness, public trust and participatory defenses to combat cognitive warfare.
International cooperation has further strengthened Taiwan’s cyber resilience. Taiwan regularly shares intelligence with the US, and its cybersecurity agencies maintain quiet but active cooperation with other allies.
Taiwan’s experience has positioned it as a model for democratic resilience in the face of authoritarian cyber pressure. Its policies, institutions and civil society initiatives are increasingly studied by governments and think tanks worldwide. Yet the threat is growing. Beijing’s cyber operations are becoming more frequent, more sophisticated and more intertwined with its broader political and military objectives. As Xi Jinping pushes toward his stated goal of ‘resolving’ the Taiwan question by 2027, Taiwan’s digital defenses are likely to face even greater tests.
Nathan Attrill is a senior analyst in ASPI’s Cyber, Technology and Security program. State of the Strait is available here. This article is published courtesy of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI).
