Stolen data from Taiwanese telecom appears on the dark web

Hackers’ latest offerings on the dark web: 1.7 terabytes of stolen data from the largest telecom provider in Taiwan, full of government and military documents, according to French news agency AFP.

“The initial analysis of this case is that hackers obtained Chunghwa Telecom’s sensitive information and sold it on the dark web, including documents from the armed forces, foreign affairs ministry, coast guard, and other units,” the defense ministry told the outlet in a statement.

Chunghwa Telecom is headquartered in Taipei City, Taiwan, and as of December 31, had 13.1 million mobile subscribers, 9.2 million fixed-line subscribers, and 4.4 million broadband subscribers.

In its statement, the ministry didn’t disclose the identity or location of the hackers, but noted that an air force contract and navy correspondence included in the leak weren’t confidential. “We have asked the contractor involved to strengthen its information security control to prevent any further incidents,” it said.

IT Brew has reached out to Taiwan’s ministry of national defense for comment.

Side chat. Back in January, Foxsemicon, a Taiwanese semiconductor company, found themselves the victim of a ransomware attack launched by LockBit, The Record reported. LockBit, a group that IT Brew has previously reported on, claimed it had stolen five terabytes’ worth of customer data, threatening to publish it if the company refused to pay, according to the news report. The semiconductor firm did not disclose whether or not it paid a ransom.

IT Brew recently reported that ransomware groups had earned an all-time high of $1.1 billion in 2023, even though the “percentage of victims willing to pay up reached an all-time low of 29% in the last quarter of the year."