Taiwan's ministry of digital affairs confirmed that government agencies were targeted in a cyberattack last month that used a combination of manual operations and AI agent-assisted techniques, including a tool called Open Claw, according to a ministry statement. Authorities said the affected agencies had completed their handling of the incident.
Taiwan says government agencies were hit by AI-assisted cyberattack in July
Taiwan's ministry of digital affairs confirmed that government agencies were targeted in a cyberattack last month that used a combination of manual operations and AI agent-assisted techniques, including a tool called Open Claw, according to a ministry statement. Authorities said the affected agencies had completed their handling of the incident.
Taiwan's cybersecurity monitoring units detected what they described as an 'abnormal attack' against government agencies in July. From July 20, the National Institute of Cyber Security issued a series of alerts as authorities investigated the incident and assessed its scope.
The ministry said the investigation found 'clear characteristics of an overseas source' but did not identify the country of origin or directly accuse China. The ministry said: 'The relevant attack sources, methods, and scope of impact have all been fully investigated, and the affected units have successively completed their handling.'
Taiwan's disclosure came one day after Israeli cybersecurity company Dream said it had uncovered an AI-driven hacking campaign targeting an unnamed Asian government. Dream said multiple AI agents worked together over four days to obtain passwords from officials, steal personnel records from Taiwan's justice ministry, and scan its nuclear safety agency for vulnerabilities. The company said it reconstructed the operation after recovering the agents' 'complete operational workspace.' Dream declined to identify the government or provide the underlying data when approached by Reuters. The Financial Times, which was first briefed on the findings, identified the targeted agencies as Taiwanese.
Cris Thomas, a security advocate at code security company Semgrep, told Reuters the campaign demonstrated how quickly AI-assisted hackers could operate but cautioned against describing such attacks as entirely autonomous.
Reuters reported that Chinese cyberattacks targeting Taiwan's key infrastructure, including hospitals and banks, rose 6 percent in 2025 to an average of 2.63 million attacks a day, according to Taiwan's National Security Bureau. The bureau said some incidents occurred alongside Chinese military drills and described the coordinated activity as part of 'hybrid threats' aimed at potentially disrupting or paralysing Taiwan.
Taipei has increasingly warned of what it describes as Chinese 'hybrid warfare,' encompassing cyberattacks, disinformation, and military activity around the island. Beijing claims sovereignty over Taiwan and has stepped up military and political pressure on Taipei in recent years.
In response to the incident, Taiwan said it has introduced new protective guidelines and strengthened cybersecurity monitoring across government agencies.
- The specific government agencies affected by the July attack are not identified in the Taiwanese government's own disclosure.
- The country or actor from which the attacks originated has not been formally identified by Taiwan.
- The full scope or severity of data accessed or compromised during the attack is not specified.
- It is not established whether Dream's findings and Taiwan's government disclosure refer to the same incident or overlapping incidents.
- The basis on which the Financial Times identified the unnamed Asian government in Dream's report as Taiwan is not detailed.
- The specific new protective guidelines Taiwan says it introduced in response are not described.
Read the original at The Times of India