Regarding today's (17th) media reports claiming that a senior national security official accused the Ministry of Digital Affairs(moda) of engaging in deceptive practices. The moda states that the National Institute of Cyber Security (NICS), an executive agency supervised by the moda, is responsible for developing cybersecurity technologies. Since its establishment, it has emphasized developing cybersecurity tools for detecting fraud and controversial messages. These tools are provided to relevant units, and the research and development works have never been interrupted. Minister of the moda Audrey Tang concurrently serves as the chairperson of the NICS, actively supervising the center to promote the adoption of relevant technologies by relevant units, contrary to the claims of reducing related personnel as reported. Additionally, due to the application of deepfake and message analysis technologies in preventing fraudulent advertisements, a particular budget for the "Smart Anti-Fraud" project was added this year to promote related technology development.

The moda emphasizes that the NICS has proactively invited relevant law enforcement units, such as the Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of Justice and the Criminal Investigation Bureau of the Interior, to exchange information analysis technologies. The center provides related research and development results to the participating units. Based on feedback from each unit serves as a reference for continuous improvement and development. The NICS also collaborates with third-party fact-checking organizations such as the Taiwan FactCheck Center, using AI technology to analyze controversial messages, providing traceability and consultation services to enhance response capabilities.

The "Digital Information Analysis Team'' of the NICS's Center of Research Acquisition is responsible for this work. The team employed two people last year, and one person left, with no significant changes in personnel. The center continues to welcome outstanding professionals to join this effort. The NICS actively develops related technologies, provides various professional services, and does not have the situation described by specific media individuals.

The moda further states that since its establishment, it has been actively implementing the "Next-generation anti-fraud strategy guidelines, version 1.5" of the Executive Yuan, strengthening the prevention of fraudulent messages and blocking fraudulent money flows. It has enhanced the management of third-party payments, e-commerce, and game points, as well as established the "111" government-exclusive shortcode SMS platform and government-specific short URLs for use by all levels of government agencies. This strengthens the trustworthiness of government messages to combat fraudulent crimes.

The moda, under its jurisdiction, has constructed the DNS RPZ (Response Policy Zone) mechanism for TWNIC (Taiwan Network Information Center). It stops resolving domain names according to court judgments or legally authorized administrative penalties. Law enforcement agencies, such as the police and the Investigation Bureau, can urgently apply for RPZ interception in significant financial crimes, fake government websites, fraudulent websites, and fake websites during elections. Last year, 34,561 interceptions were made, far exceeding the previous year's 2,945.

To cope with foreign information manipulation interference, the moda actively cooperates with the Executive Yuan's Cybersecurity Office to establish the "Basic Norms and Division of Responsibilities for Internet Content Management" platform. It collaborates with law enforcement agencies and Meta, Google, and other large cross-border platforms to establish a rapid contact channel. The NICS reports immediately and coordinates proactively blocking advertising imports from external sites, expediting the handling of high-risk account units. Since establishing the NICS, it has actively cooperated with law enforcement agencies, the Investigation Bureau, the Criminal Investigation Bureau, and third-party fact-checking units, providing traceability and consultation services to enhance response capabilities.

Regarding Taiwan-U.S. cooperation, the NICS has established multiple contact points and channels with counter agencies from the United States and friendly countries. NICS hosts video conferences, visits, and information exchanges and regularly sends personnel for professional training to strengthen cooperation. The NICS has established the Center of International Collaboration and Cybersecurity Governance, which promotes international exchanges and cooperation. It has built mutual trust in cybersecurity with the United States and friendly countries. The exchanges are active, and memorandums of understanding have been signed with multiple countries, continuing to solidify institutionalized cooperation and exchange work. There is no delay in signing MOUs, as mentioned.

To further establish connections and attract more friendly countries to help enhance Taiwan's overall cybersecurity defense capabilities, the NICS has made international linkages and cooperative defense a key focus since its establishment. The NICS collaborates with top public and private institutions in the United States, including US-CERT, CISA, NIST, UC Berkeley, and Team Cymru, on various cybersecurity issues. The cooperative partnership with US-CERT and CISA has strengthened our country's international exchanges, promoted in-depth cooperation in reporting cybersecurity incidents, sharing cybersecurity intelligence, and collaborating on threat defense technologies.

Additionally, regarding reports in the media claiming that the 
Administration for Cyber Security(ACS) refuses to communicate and has degenerated to become an administrative office under the Executive Yuan, the moda states that the ACS, to enhance the overall cybersecurity defense system in our country, plans and promotes cross-agency and cross-domain cybersecurity programs and projects. It coordinates central government agencies, direct municipalities, and county and city governments through the "Executive Yuan Cybersecurity Council" platform to jointly construct and strengthen the overall cybersecurity environment in Taiwan.

To make the outside world aware of the developments in cybersecurity, the ACS releases the "Cybersecurity Monthly Report" on its official website every month. The report provides recent policy highlights and overall threat trends. It regularly discloses essential information such as the "National Cybersecurity Situation Report" and the "Summary Report on Audits of Government Agencies." It also offers related cybersecurity protection recommendations. The ACS encourages all agencies to share cybersecurity threat intelligence and promotes cross-agency cybersecurity defense. However, to avoid affecting the willingness and effectiveness of agencies to report incidents, it is appropriate for each incident to be publicly addressed by the relevant agency.

The ACS focuses on understanding the root causes of incidents, formulates improvement and preventive measures based on this understanding, and collaborates with various agencies to defend against possible damage jointly. In addition, to enhance public-private joint defense, it promotes the sharing of cybersecurity threat intelligence through the "Taiwan Computer Emergency Response Team/Coordination Center (TWCERT/CC)" operated by the NICS. It encourages private sector participation in the Taiwan Cyber Security Alliance to obtain cybersecurity threat intelligence and assistance.

To enhance government agencies' cybersecurity defense and response capabilities at all levels governed by the "Cybersecurity Management Act," the ACS selects various government agencies for network attack and defense drills every year. Weaknesses discovered are individually notified to the agencies for improvement. For common weaknesses across agencies, after removing agency-identifying information, the ACS shares attack methods and system design weaknesses during government cybersecurity patrol seminars. This is done to help agencies perform self-examinations and enhance defense measures.