The Executive Yuan's Department of Cyber Security (DCS) announced on Wednesday that the National Information and Communication Security Taskforce (NICST) has launched the Taiwan-led session of the 2019 Cyber Offensive and Defensive Exercise (CODE), a multinational network security event co-hosted with the American Institute in Taiwan, running from November 4 to November 8. Unlike previous situational exercises, this year's CODE is for the first time being conducted as a full-scale drill, and involves security experts from both Taiwan and abroad. They will work in concert with domestic financial organizations as integrated teams to improve technical and responsive capabilities on all sides.
Vice Premier and NICST Convener Chen Chi-mai emphasized in an address to participants that Taiwan is a frequent target of network attacks, and the borderless nature of such assaults makes it difficult for the nation to stand alone against highly proficient and technically advanced cybercrime groups. Citing the need for a multinational joint defense, the vice premier expressed hope that CODE 2019 will open the door to greater cooperation between Taiwan and the rest of the world.
The DCS indicated that as financial institutions around the globe often draw attacks from organized hackers, the exercise this year focuses on the financial cybersecurity environment. Financial Supervisory Commission Chairman Wellington L. Koo is personally heading a group of financial network security veterans to mount a team defense. With a simulated environment built by National Applied Research Laboratories' National Center for High-performance Computing, CODE 2019 is expected to provide an excellent training experience.