China warns of cyberattacks from Taiwan-backed hackers

China's national security ministry says a Taiwan military-backed hacking group called Anonymous 64 has been carrying out cyberattacks against targets in China and is urging people to report "anti-propaganda sabotage."

Since the beginning of the year, Anonymous 64 - which the ministry said belonged to Taiwan's cyber warfare wing - has sought to upload and broadcast "content that denigrates the mainland's political system and major policies," on websites, outdoor screens and network TV stations, it said on a blog post.

The Taiwan defense department's Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command said China's accusations were untrue.

The hacking group's X account said it was set up in June 2023 and showed screenshots of efforts to broadcast videos likening President Xi Jinping to an emperor, marking the second anniversary of protests against Beijing's strict Covid curbs and commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations.

One video was an address from an Anonymous 64 member wearing the Anonymous hacking group's Guy Fawkes mask in the style of the graphic novel and film V for Vendetta.

Neither the X site nor the blog post from the security ministry said whether Anonymous 64 had any affiliation with the international hacking group.

On the blog post published on its official WeChat account, the security ministry said its investigation into the group had found many of the websites it claimed to have accessed were fake or had little no traffic.

Posts showing it having infiltrated numerous university and media websites had been "photoshopped," it added. The security ministry published screenshots of the group's X account with heavily redacted text. It also said it had opened a case against three members of Taiwan's cyber warfare wing.

"We advocate that netizens should not believe in or spread rumors and should promptly report cyberattacks or cases of anti-propaganda activity to the national security authorities," the blog post said.

The security ministry said the Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command is specifically responsible for conducting cyber cognitive warfare and public opinion warfare against the mainland.

It primarily handles electronic warfare, information warfare, cyber warfare, and military line maintenance, serving as the main force for the island of Taiwan's cyber operations against the mainland.

It targets areas such as the mainland's defense industry, aerospace, and energy infrastructure for cyberattacks, aiming to steal sensitive data and gather intelligence, the security ministry said.

It also frequently distorts online public opinion, employs internet trolls, exacerbates conflicts, and incites divisions for its own gain, is added.

Since its establishment, Anonymous 64 has posted over 70 updates on social media, using so-called achievements to attract attention, according to a Global Times report.

The targets they claim to have attacked, the report added, include outdoor electronic screens, vending machines, online television, as well as the websites of news media, airlines, and universities.

The hacking claims are to hype a false image of severe vulnerabilities in mainland cybersecurity, the report said.

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