Taiwan says it was targeted last month in AI-driven hacking campaign

TAIPEI/WASHINGTON — Taiwan detected AI-assisted cyberattacks on government agencies last month coming from overseas but the affected bodies successfully “handled” the incident, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said on Thursday (Aug 13).Taiwan has in recent years complained about what it sees as China’s “hybrid warfare” — from daily military drills near the island to disinformation campaigns and cyberattacks — as Beijing ramps up military and political pressure on the democratically governed island to force Taipei to accept its claims of sovereignty.Chinese cyberattacks on Taiwan’s key infrastructure from hospitals to banks rose six per cent in 2025 from the previous year to an average of 2.63 million attacks a day, the island’s National Security Bureau said in January, adding some of the hacks were synchronised with military drills in “hybrid threats” to paralyse the island.In a statement, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said its cybersecurity monitoring units detected the “abnormal attack” targeting government agencies in July, and beginning July 20, its National Institute of Cyber Security issued a series of warning alerts while it investigated.