20 DPP-linked suspects face arrest warrant for cyberattack

Mainland police have placed 20 major suspects from Taiwan on a wanted list as of Thursday, accusing them of involvement in a recent cyberattack orchestrated by an organization affiliated with Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party authorities.

The public security bureau of Guangzhou's Tianhe district in Guangdong province issued the list and disclosed the suspects' identity information on its Weibo account, offering a reward of 10,000 yuan ($1,391) for clues leading to their capture.

After an investigation, police said the recent cyberattack on a technology company in Guangzhou was carried out by the "Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command" of Taiwan.

ICEFCOM, established in 2017 and restructured in 2022 as a direct agency under the island's "defense department", serves as an accomplice to "Taiwan independence" separatist forces, according to the bureau. Police said it has been recruiting social hackers and cybersecurity firms to carry out cyber warfare directives from the DPP authorities, and engaging in cyber espionage and sabotage activities against the mainland.

The bureau said ICEFCOM released its latest attack on the tech company on May 20, describing it as a large-scale, coordinated assault with the hallmarks of cyber warfare. Seven days later, it said the attack was traced to the hacker group affiliated with the DPP, which has used open-source tools to conduct extensive probes on more than 1,000 critical network systems across more than 10 provincial-level regions on the mainland.

"In recent years, ICEFCOM has been found to have repeatedly launched indiscriminate cyberattacks on various mainland institutions and engaged in cyber warfare without any ethical constraints to steal sensitive data, upload 'Taiwan independence' and 'pro-Japan' slogans to systems of no intelligence value and incite national division," Ji Chaoping, deputy head of the bureau, told China Central Television.

"They have maliciously disrupted the normal functioning of network systems and severely influenced the normal operations of these institutions. Their actions are suspected of serious criminal offenses," Ji was quoted as saying.

He said the reward-based manhunt aims to strengthen the crackdown on cybercrimes, safeguard national security and protect people's legitimate interests.

Tian Li, a professor at Peking University, said the mainland police strictly adhered to the law in this operation, citing the Criminal Law, the Cybersecurity Law and the Counter-Espionage Law, according to CCTV.

She said issuing warrants or pursuing criminal charges against those who commit cybercrimes or steal confidential information highlights the authority and seriousness of the laws in safeguarding cybersecurity.

On Thursday, a research report jointly released by three cybersecurity entities led by the National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center also exposed the history, organizational structure, personnel, workplaces, tasks and typical cyberattacks of ICEFCOM.

It was not the first time mainland police revealed details of members of the organization. In March, the Ministry of State Security disclosed the pictures, birth dates and identity card numbers of four senior ICEFCOM members, warning them that "Taiwan independence" separatist activities are a "path of no return" and urging them to abandon the illusion of separatism and cease cyberattacks that divide the country.