Taiwan says China's attacks on its energy sector increased tenfold

Published:

6 januari 2026 om 22:27:15

Alert date:

6 januari 2026 om 23:01:52

Source:

bleepingcomputer.com

Critical Infrastructure, Data Breach & Exfiltration, Ransomware & Malware

Taiwan's National Security Bureau reports that China's cyberattacks on the country's energy sector increased tenfold in 2025 compared to the previous year. This represents a significant escalation in cyber warfare activities targeting critical infrastructure. The attacks are focused on Taiwan's energy sector, which is considered critical national infrastructure. The dramatic increase suggests an intensification of cyber operations between the two nations. This development raises concerns about energy security and critical infrastructure protection in the region.

Technical details

China conducted cyberattacks targeting Taiwan's critical infrastructure across nine key sectors in 2025. Energy sector attacks increased by 1000% compared to 2024. Attack methods included exploiting hardware/software vulnerabilities, DDoS attacks, social engineering, and supply-chain incidents. Attackers targeted industrial control systems, monitored for malware injection opportunities during software upgrades, and used adversary-in-the-middle (AitM) attacks. Communications sector targeted via persistent network access, government agencies hit with phishing and data theft, tech sector targeted for advanced chip and industrial technology data theft.

Mitigation steps:

Taiwan's National Security Bureau is cooperating with more than 30 countries for intelligence sharing and joint investigations on malicious infrastructure. Organizations should monitor for malware injection during software upgrades, secure industrial control systems, and implement protections against AitM attacks, phishing, and social engineering.

Affected products:

Industrial control systems
Network equipment
Energy sector systems (petroleum
electricity
natural gas)
Communications infrastructure
Government agency systems