Aug 05, 2022 11:00:00

The Taiwanese government and Seven-Eleven were hacked during the visit of Speaker of the House of Representatives Pelosi to Taiwan, and 'Go home!'

Around August 2, 2022, when U.S. House Speaker

Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, cyberattacks of unprecedented scale targeted Taiwan's presidential office, government agencies, and even convenience stores. It is reported that

From 7-11s to train stations, cyber attacks plague Taiwan over Pelosi visit | Reuters
https://www.reuters.com/technology/7-11s-train-stations-cyber-attacks-plague-taiwan-over-pelosi-visit-2022-08-04/

Taiwanese websites hit with DDoS attacks as Pelosi begins visit
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/taiwanese-websites-hit-ddos-attacks-pelosi-begins-visit-rcna41144

Hacktivists Deface Chinese Government Website to Welcome Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan
https://www.vice.com/en/article/xgyykz/hacktivists-deface-chinese-government-website-to-welcome-nancy-pelosi-to-taiwan

Chairman Pelosi visited Taiwan at midnight on August 2nd and met with Taiwanese President

Tsai Ing-wen on the following day. Pelosi, who is second in the line of succession to the U.S. presidential powers after the vice president and is effectively number three in the U.S., made a surprise visit to Taiwan. It has repeatedly threatened to launch missiles into economic zones and conduct large-scale military exercises .

In addition to these military trends, there has also been a dramatic increase in attacks that appear to originate from China in cyberspace. According to NBC News, just before Pelosi arrived in Taiwan, the websites of at least four key institutions, including the Presidential Office, the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taiwan's largest airport, were hit by DDoS attacks . It stopped intermittently.

In addition, after Pelosi's arrival, the monitors behind the cash registers at several 7-Eleven stores in Taiwan suddenly switched to display the words, 'Warmonger Pelosi, get out of Taiwan!' .


The Taiwanese government has not singled out the Chinese government, but said the attacks on government agencies originated from China and Russia. In addition, 7-Eleven, whose monitor display was hijacked, announced that Chinese software that could be a backdoor or Trojan horse malware was used.

More than 15,000 gigabits of cyberattacks were carried out on Taiwanese government agencies around the time of Pelosi's arrival, according to Audrey Tan, Taiwan's digital minister, 23 of the previously recorded single-day attacks. It is said to have doubled.

Eryk Waligora, a cyber threat intelligence expert at Accenture, a leading Irish consulting firm, said cyber attacks between November 2021 and February 2022 will force Taiwanese financial firms to suspend online trading. He pointed out that past attacks were much more sophisticated and more damaging than this one. ``This time I have the impression that it is ``more theater than threat'' rather than an attack.

There are also counterattacks against China. On August 3, hackers claiming to belong to Anonymous defaced a Chinese government website with a message welcoming Pelosi to Taiwan. The wording 'Taiwan numbah wan! (Taiwan number one!)' listed at the top is a joke of Chinese pronunciation, and it is an internet meme used to stir up Chinese gamers in online games. .

``This hack is retaliation for the DDoS attack on the Presidential Office website,'' said a hacker who tampered with a site jointly operated by the Chinese government and an academic organization in Heilongjiang Province in a statement.