Chinese cyberattacks on Taiwan’s key infrastructure from hospitals to banks rose six percent in 2025 from the previous year to an average of 2.63 million attacks a day. This is contained in a data released by the Taiwanese National Security Bureau. The bureau added that some of the attacks were synchronised with military drills in “hybrid threats” to paralyse the island.
The average number of daily attacks in 2025 rose to N113 percent from 2023 when the bureau first began publishing such data, with sectors such as energy, emergency rescue and hospitals seeing the sharpest year-on-year increases. Taiwan has in recent years complained about what it described as China’s “hybrid warfare,” from daily military drills near the island to disinformation campaigns and cyberattacks, as Beijing ramps up military and political pressure on the democratically governed island to force Taipei to accept its claims of sovereignty.
“Such a trend indicates a deliberate attempt by China to compromise Taiwan’s crucial infrastructure comprehensively and to disrupt or paralyse Taiwanese government and social functions,” the report said. The bureau said China’s “cyber army” timed operations to coincide with military and political coercion.
China had launched 40 “joint combat readiness patrols” by sending military planes and ships close to Taiwan and cyberattacks escalated on 23 of those occasions. Beijing also ramped up hacking activities during politically sensitive moments such as when President Lai Ching-te marked his first year in office with a speech in May and when Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim spoke at a meeting with lawmakers at the European Parliament in November.
