Russian hackers hit Taiwan Stock Exchange and bank in a surprise attack
Russian hacker groups briefly disrupted Taiwanese financial platforms including the stock exchange and lender Mega Financial Holding Co.’s website, exposing the vulnerability of the island to foreign cyberattacks.
Two groups that go by the handles “NoName057” and “RipperSec” on Telegram swamped targeted websites with a so-called Distributed Denial of Service attack, which caused unstable connection issues for the platforms Thursday afternoon, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said Friday. During the incident, the Taiwan Stock Exchange detected web queries from overseas internet-protocol addresses at volumes several times bigger than usual, the bourse said in a separate text message to Bloomberg News.
Government websites and trading functioned normally on Friday. DDoS attacks are intended to overload systems rather than steal valuable information, and the stock exchange restored normal operations within a half-hour on Thursday. But the incident exposes the potential vulnerability of computing platforms in Taiwan, the world’s biggest producer of advanced semiconductors and a potential flashpoint in a US-China conflict.
“With regards to the attacks from NoName057 and RipperSec, the authorities are gathering the latest information and will take necessary measures,” the ministry said in its latest statement. Taiwan’s cabinet office separately condemned the cyber-attackers for causing trouble not just on the island, but across the region.
Read More: Taiwan Calls on US Support to Defend Banks Against Hacking
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