The LINE accounts of more than 100 politicians have been hacked. LINE says it has reported the incident and has taken the "swift action" to protect affected users, without providing any additional details. Meanwhile, officials say they have every reason to believe the incident is politically motivated and the hackers may be from the other side of the Strait. Both ruling and opposition lawmakers are calling for an thorough investigation and an update on the loophole in the relevant laws.
The LINE accounts of over 100 politicians have been hacked. In a statement, LINE said it has taken "swift action" to protect the affected users and reported the incident to the police. It also said it would continue to take the necessary measures to deal with the incident, without providing any additional details. The Criminal Investigation Bureau's 9th Investigation Corp is on the job. The Democratic Progressive Party caucus wants a thorough investigation to find out if there has been a national security breach.
Luo Chih-cheng, DPP Caucus Secretary："This is clearly a politically motivated national security attack targeting so-called important politicians of Taiwan. Their motive is clear. So, is it possible the hackers are from the other side of the Taiwan Strait? Of course it's absolutely possible. So, because of this, there are national security implications. So, we must accelerate the relevant investigation and (set up) safeguards."
Opposition lawmakers, meanwhile, called on the Tsai administration to update data security laws.
Cheng Li-wun, KMT Caucus Secretary："Taiwan has major national security and data security flaws. Shouldn't these be addressed sooner rather than later? The government should have a comprehensive and updated information security law."
Kao Hung-an, Legislator (TPP)："Of course, we have reason to believe the attack originated in China. However, we have to look at the method of attack and trace the attack instead of jumping to conclusions."
According to a media report, LINE has notified vulnerable accounts to turn on security features. The messaging app giant also gave a detailed account of the incident to the National Security Council at the Presidential Office. One Cabinet official says national security authorities are overseeing the investigation.
LINE是國人使用率最高的通訊軟體，不過現在傳出包括總統府、行政院、縣市長、朝野政黨，甚至還有軍方在內，超過百名重要人士的LINE內容外流。LINE公司對此發出聲明表示，針對此次事件，系統發現以後，馬上採取必要行動保護用戶並且報案，LINE強調會對此事件繼續採取必要的應對。至於外流狀況，LINE並沒有對外說明。刑事局表示，已經接到報案，目前由偵九大隊調查中。可能也有成員受到影響的民進黨立院黨團、要求相關單位查清楚是否有國安危機。
民進黨立院黨團書記長 羅致政表示：「這麼明顯是針對所謂台灣的重要的政要或政治人物的話，那他的背後的政治動機，跟國安的目的，是非常清楚的。所以來自於有沒有可能是，來自於對岸駭客？當然這個可能性，絕對是有的。所以正是因為這樣子，它涉及到國安的問題，所以我們一定要特別加強相關的一個查處跟防範。」
在野黨團也要求政府盡快立法，補強通訊軟體的資訊安全。
國民黨立院黨團書記長 鄭麗文表示：「對於台灣的國安、資安這部分，是不是有出現漏洞，也應該早日的去把它補強。政府也應該要有一個更完備、更進步的立法，來確保資安的安全。」
民眾黨立委 高虹安表示：「那是不是對岸對台來進行情蒐？我們當然是完全有理由，可以去做懷疑。那這些可能都需要從攻擊的手法，還有足跡，進一步去釐清跟彙整。」
有媒體報導，LINE已經發訊息提醒這些可能受害用戶，要求將系統的加密功能開啟，並且也到總統府向國安會報告，有行政院官員透露，這起通訊內容案件由國安單位統籌處理。
