Trellix Report: Cyberattacks Target Taiwan’s Democracy, Highlighting Election Risks

Hackers ramped up their activities just as Taiwanese voters geared up to participate in last month’s national elections, according to officials at U.S.-based cybersecurity firm Trellix. The surge in hacking efforts, detected by Trellix, targeted the island democracy in the run-up to the tense elections. The firm’s analysis suggests that the hackers were likely seeking compromising material to unleash a last-minute surprise and sway voters’ opinions.

The cyberattacks, outlined in a report released Tuesday by the California-based company, do not seem to have impacted the election’s outcome. However, they raise concerns about potential threats to U.S. elections, especially with the upcoming November elections on the horizon, stated Anne An, a lead threat intelligence researcher for Trellix. Unlike Taiwan’s strict paper-ballot system, the United States has multiple voting methods, providing attackers with a wider array of opportunities to disrupt the electoral process.

Ms. An emphasized that the tactics observed in Taiwan could be a harbinger of threats facing U.S. elections. The heightened interest in Taiwan’s elections, with polls forecasting a tight race between pro- and anti-China candidates, attracted significant attention from Beijing’s ruling Communist Party.

Trellix’s data revealed a significant increase in threats in the days leading up to Taiwan’s presidential election, followed by a sharp decline in activity on election day. The cybersecurity threat surged from 1,758 detected on Jan. 11 to over 4,300 on Jan. 12, the day preceding the election, as per Trellix’s findings.