A new analysis from the National Security Bureau of Taiwan describes the extent to which the country’s infrastructure is threatened by the aggression of China. This includes repeated attacks on Taiwan’s communications. The bureau’s press release explains:
China’s cyber army has long been engaging in cyberattacks against Taiwan’s critical infrastructure (CI) by employing diverse and evolving tactics.
The number of attempted intrusions into cyber systems during 2025 was up 6.5% compared to 2024 and up 112.4% compared to 2023. The number and breadth of the attacks being staged by mainland China are mind-boggling.
On average, China’s cyber army launched 2.63 million intrusion attempts per day targeting Taiwan’s CI across nine primary sectors, namely administration and agencies, energy, communications and transmission, transportation, emergency rescue and hospitals, water resources, finance, science parks and industrial parks, as well as food.
Attacks peaked during events of political and symbolic significance, such as trips by Taiwanese delegations to foreign governments, or the anniversary of the inauguration of Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te.
Over half of all attacks from mainland China were focused on the exploitation of hardware and software vulnerabilities. Distributed denial of service (DDoS) was the next largest category, representing approximately one in five cyber attacks from China. 18% of attacks used social engineering techniques, and 4% were focused on the supply chain.
The bureau’s analysis drew particular attention to the risk of data exfiltration from comms services and disruption of communications.
…China’s cyber army exploited vulnerabilities in the network equipment of Taiwan’s telecom industry, and hacked into networks of service providers and subcontractors to infiltrate sensitive and backup communication links.
There was a 6.7% increase in the number of attempted intrusions that targeted communications and transmission. Mainland hackers typically sought to quietly lurk inside telecoms systems.
China’s cyber army exploits the vulnerabilities in the network systems of Taiwan’s telecommunications companies, aiming to stay in the background of the computer systems of those companies and their contractors.
The agents of communist China also like to perform man-in-the-middle attacks.
…China’s cyber army utilizes a Man-in-the-Middle attack… to steal their communication data and user information while penetrating their sensitive and backup communication links. Such a move could impact the security and resilience of Taiwan’s domestic and international telecommunications networks.
Expert observers of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) warn that the likelihood of a military assault on Taiwan is rising. The CCP has ruled mainland China for three-quarters of a century but remains obsessed with the risk that it could be overthrown, as occurred to the Soviet Union’s Communist Party in the 1990’s. Taiwan’s political separation from the rest of China at the end of the civil war between the communist and nationalist forces has always been a sore point for the CCP. An invasion or blockade of Taiwan would distract from economic tensions within mainland China that may otherwise undermine the popularity of the CCP. The fracturing of the Western military coalition caused by US President Donald Trump has also created a window of opportunity.
Subversion of networks and disruption of communications are now an important component of the hybrid style of modern warfare. Attacks by mainland China on Taiwan’s communications infrastructure will continue to increase and there will also be a ramping up of cyber attacks on the communications of any country that might come to Taiwan’s aid.
You can read the National Security Bureau’s press release here and the nine-page analysis of mainland China’s attacks during 2025 is here.
