Social platform LINE experienced a large-scale logout and account theft incident on the evening of March 31, with most victims being Taiwan Mobile users, who reported being suddenly logged out and unable to log back in; LINE responded that it had launched an investigation into the reported account thefts and was continuously monitoring platform security.

The Legislative Yuan's Transportation Committee today invited Minister of Digital Affairs Lin I-ching to report on business overview and answer questions. Kuomintang Legislator Wan Mei-ling pointed out that LINE experienced a large-scale account login anomaly on the evening of March 31, mostly affecting Taiwan Mobile users, mainly because malicious actors exploited the vulnerability of Taiwan Mobile's voicemail function and LINE's verification mechanism to steal people's accounts. The Ministry of Digital Affairs has not yet grasped how many people were affected.

Lin I-ching responded that Taiwan Mobile has only received 16 customer complaints, but it is understood that the number of affected people may be far higher than this figure.

Regarding the attribution of responsibility for the problem, Lin I-ching pointed out that neither side has a big problem, but combined, it becomes a vulnerability. Many cybersecurity problems are like this. The most important thing now is to quickly plug the loophole.

Wan Mei-ling stated that LINE is currently providing assistance, but if people's accounts are stolen and used for fraud, how will legal responsibility be clarified later? Lin I-ching responded that if a LINE account is stolen, there is a high possibility that it will be used by a fraud group for fraud, but legal issues may only be clarified in court.

Wan Mei-ling pointed out that when such an incident occurs, the Ministry of Digital Affairs should bring together LINE, Taiwan Mobile, and other platform operators to review prevention mechanisms or strengthen verification methods.

Lin I-ching stated that the Ministry of Digital Affairs has been in contact with both operators. Once a cybersecurity vulnerability is discovered, it will be plugged and will not happen again, but malicious actors may still look for new vulnerabilities. This incident was contained in the shortest possible time before it spread, and the operators were notified to plug it. (Editor: Chang Jo-yao) 1150408

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  • Source: CNA (Central News Agency)
  • Category: regulation