Experts say hackers might exploit work-from-home trend

Experts say hackers might exploit work-from-home trend

SECURITY BREACH: If a hacker gains control of an employee’s personal device, it could be used to access company or government systems



  • By Wu Su-wei and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writer





  • People working from home must be mindful of digital security, as hackers could exploit weaknesses in personal computers to gain access to work systems, experts said on Sunday.


    Taiwan is internationally known as a frequent target of cyberattacks, said Tzeng Yi-suo (曾怡碩), director of the Institute for National Defense and Security Research’s Division of Cybersecurity and Decisionmaking Simulation.


    While the nation fights a domestic COVID-19 outbreak, it would continue to face such threats, Tzeng said.


    However, hackers might turn their sights to different targets than usual, such as vaccine manufacturers and hospitals, he said.


    Financial and medical institutions are a long way ahead of the curve when it comes to cybersecurity, preceding even governments in pre-empting attacks, he said.

    Ever since CPC Corp, Taiwan and Formosa Petrochemical Corp were hit by a ransomware attack in May last year, the government has invested more in securing digital systems at state-run enterprises, security expert Chang Kuang-hung (張光宏) said.


    The issue is that the law has not kept up with industry needs and the national budget still falls short of what is needed, said Chang, who has created security infrastructure for the government, military and financial institutions.


    With more people working from home during a COVID-19 alert, Chang fears the creation of more security vulnerabilities.


    If a hacker gains access to an employee’s personal device, it could then be used as a “springboard” into internal government or company systems, voiding their security infrastructure, Chang said.


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