Severe Cybersecurity Breach at Ministry of National Defense: Personal Data of Defense Minister Ku Li-hsiung and High-Ranking Generals Leaked

On October 22, 2024, a severe military information security breach erupted at the Ministry of National Defense (MND) of the Republic of China. During the processing of annual public asset declarations, personnel in the MND's Government Ethics Office committed an unfathomable procedural error by attaching a complete list containing the real names, services, and official titles of all declarants to an electronic document. This document, which contained the highly sensitive personal data of Defense Minister Ku Li-hsiung, Chief of the General Staff Mei Chia-shu, and numerous high-ranking military commanders and confidential intelligence officers, was broadcasted directly to 28 military subordinate departments. Since the list effectively cataloged the core leadership of the country's defense apparatus, the blunder triggered widespread panic within the military and sparked intense public criticism regarding national security vulnerabilities. Opposition lawmakers and media outlets slammed the MND, claiming that its internal confidentiality controls had utterly collapsed. The MND hastily issued a response, asserting that the data leak was confined to the internal military network, did not spread to the external internet, and that active front-line intelligence officers were not compromised. The ministry claimed that emergency risk mitigation had successfully recalled and deleted the documents within 24 hours. Nonetheless, as the defense minister himself was at the top of the compromised list, this scandal dealt a severe blow to Ku's authority and the MND's credibility. The case was subsequently forwarded to the Agency Against Corruption of the Ministry of Justice for administrative and criminal investigations.