Taipei, May 27 (IANS) Taiwan’s Ministry of Digital Affairs (MODA) on Wednesday urged people to remain alert to cybersecurity risks posed by four Chinese-made mobile apps, including Amap, which currently tops Android and iOS download charts for navigation apps in Taiwan, local media reported.
The other three Chinese-made mobile apps are bilibili, iQIYI, BIMOBIMO, MODA’s Administration for Cyber Security (ACS) announced the findings during a news conference in Taipei, reported Taipei Times. MODA’s Administration for Cyber Security (ACS) stated that the main concern with Chinese-developed apps is that they share data with China, which is a “greater risk to national security” and is something that his agency wanted to bring into the notice of citizens of Taiwan.
ACS senior official Lee Yu-wei stated that the companies behind the four apps may need to share data with Chinese authorities under China’s Cybersecurity Law and National Intelligence Law. ACS conducts tests on four apps in four categories like reading data from other apps, gathering and sharing user data, accessing users’ device information, and reading users’ activity.
The reported quoted Lee as saying that Amap had the highest number of risk behaviours among these four apps. He stated that risk factors were identified on both operating systems included continuously reading location of the users, accessing contacts, audio visual data and microphone permissions.
He urged people to remain alert to risks posed by all apps and not only Chinese-developed, by checking whether the permissions asked by the apps are reasonable and using cybersecurity tools when required, Taipei Times reported.
On Monday, Taiwan’s National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen said that the agency has identified nearly 100 suspicious account groups which shared over 9,000 divisive messages on social media after the meeting between US President Donald and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing during former’s State Visit to China earlier this month.
In his remarks at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defence Committee, Tsai Ming-yen said that Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) latest cognitive warfare pushed the narrative that reunification would bring peace and voiced skepticism about US’ support for Taiwan. During the meeting, he spoke about the effect of Trump-Xi meeting on Taiwan’s diplomacy and national security, Taipei Times reported.
Tsai said that suspicious accounts did not have normal friend connections or mutual followers and shared posts at set times, echoing CCP’s media narratives. He stated that bureau after seeing the posts informed several agencies so that they could issue clarification and reported the issue to Taiwanese President William Lai on May 17.
Tsai Ming-yen said that, after Trump-Xi meeting, the US Department of State stated that there is no change in Washington’s policy on Taiwan and its arms sales to Taipei, which he said helped to dismiss various claims that surfaced on social media claiming that the US would leave Taiwan in a crisis, Taipei Times reported.
Trump was on a State Visit to China earlier this month. During his talks with Trump in Beijing, Xi Jinping said that the US-China ties will have overall stability if the Taiwan issue is handled properly.
China maintains that Taiwan is a part of its territory and needs to be reunified with the mainland, by force if necessary. Despite China’s efforts, Taiwan, backed by strong public support, continues to assert its sovereignty and responds to China’s incursions.
–IANS
akl/as
