Reuters exclusively reported, researchers said today that Chinese-related visitors are locking up Taiwanese semiconductor and investment analysts to launch a series of online intercom operations.
According to reports, although the behavior of hacker intrusion and acquisition of industry data and information is not new, researchers from Internet security company Proofpoint pointed out in their latest analysis that the continuous attacks of multiple Chinese-related guest groups on Taiwan's development are increasing.
Proofpoint researcher Mark Kelly, who focuses on China-related threats, said: "We have found that institutions that have never been targeted in the past are now being locked."
Proofpoint said that these previously unreported guest actions were carried out by at least three different organizations related to China, with time concentrated between March and June this year, and some activities may still be underway.
As these attacks occur, the Government of China is implementing more stringent regulation on the U.S.-designed chips that are often made in Taiwan. As the supply of advanced chips in the United States continues to decrease, especially chips in the artificial intelligence (AI) field, China's chip industry is working hard to find alternatives.
Researchers declined to disclose the specific targets of the Guest, but told Reuters that about 15 to 20 organizations were attacked, covering small businesses, at least one international bank analyst with headquarters in the United States, and large global companies.
Taiwan's major semiconductor companies include Taiwan Electric, United Technology, United Electric, Nanya Technology and Realtek Semiconductors. Taiwan Electric refused to review absolutely; Joint Development, Telecom, Nanya Technology and Realtek did not respond to review requests.
Reuters failed to identify specific targets of the attackers, nor could they determine whether these attackers were successful.
A spokesperson for the Chinese Ambassador's Ambassador told Reuters via email that the online attack "is a common threat faced by all countries, and China is no exception." He also said that China "resolutely opposes and fights against all forms of online attacks and online crimes, and this stand-alone is clear."
Kelly said that the attacks vary in size, from sending one to two emails to specific targets to sending up to 80 more emails to obtain overall company information.
One of the organizations used the embroidered Taiwan University e-mail account to impersonate a job seeker, lock the semiconductor design, manufacturing and supply chain-related institutions, and spread the malicious software through PDF files or passwords linked with malicious files.
Another enemy organization, locked the main unnamed investment company financial analysts focused on Taiwan's semiconductor industry, launched an attack by impersonating virtual investment companies for cooperation. Two of these organizations are located in Asia and the other is in the United States. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) refused to criticize it.
A representative from Taiwan's TeamT5, TeamT5, told Reuters that they also found an increase in email attacks on semiconductor industries, involving several guest groups, "but it is not widespread or universal."