Cisco to Establish Cybersecurity Center in Taiwan

FILE PHOTO: A Taiwanese flag is seen on top of Taiwan's central bank in Taipei, Taiwan, December 14, 2022. REUTERS/Ann Wang/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A Taiwanese flag is seen on top of Taiwan's central bank in Taipei, Taiwan, December 14, 2022. REUTERS/Ann Wang/File Photo
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Cisco to Establish Cybersecurity Center in Taiwan

FILE PHOTO: A Taiwanese flag is seen on top of Taiwan's central bank in Taipei, Taiwan, December 14, 2022. REUTERS/Ann Wang/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A Taiwanese flag is seen on top of Taiwan's central bank in Taipei, Taiwan, December 14, 2022. REUTERS/Ann Wang/File Photo

US networking equipment maker Cisco said on Monday it would set up a cybersecurity center in Taiwan and work with the government to train more people to work in the sector.

Democratically governed Taiwan, which Beijing views as its own territory, has repeatedly complained of cyberattacks coming from China, targeting government officials and departments as well as tech firms as part of a broader pressure campaign, Reuters reported.

China denies involvement in hacking attacks.

Cisco said that as part of what it calls its Taiwan Digital Acceleration Plan 3.0, it would focus on cybersecurity, planning to partner with the government to train people and address a broader global talent shortage.

"In addition, Cisco aims to collaborate with relevant tech associations to establish a security center in Taiwan for enhanced threat intelligence and cyber readiness," it said in a statement.

Guy Diedrich, the company's global innovation officer, told reporters it would "be doing a great deal of work around security" including the new "security innovation center" in Taiwan, though he declined to provide investment figures.

"The nice thing about the digital acceleration program is that there is no ceiling on investments. We continue to make them," he said of the project, that also covers artificial intelligence in areas like transport and sustainability operations at Kaohsiung port in southern Taiwan.

Launching the plan, Diedrich told an audience that included Taiwan Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim that he hoped there would be a fourth round of investment.



EU Privacy Regulator Fines Meta 91 Million Euros over Password Storage

A logo of Meta Platforms Inc. is seen at its booth, at the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups, at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France June 17, 2022. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
A logo of Meta Platforms Inc. is seen at its booth, at the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups, at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France June 17, 2022. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
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EU Privacy Regulator Fines Meta 91 Million Euros over Password Storage

A logo of Meta Platforms Inc. is seen at its booth, at the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups, at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France June 17, 2022. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
A logo of Meta Platforms Inc. is seen at its booth, at the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups, at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France June 17, 2022. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

The lead European Union privacy regulator fined social media giant Meta 91 million euros ($101.5 million) on Friday for inadvertently storing some users' passwords without protection or encryption.

The inquiry was opened five years ago after Meta notified Ireland's Data Protection Commission (DPC) that it had stored some passwords in 'plaintext'. Meta publicly acknowledged the incident at the time and the DPC said the passwords were not made available to external parties.

"It is widely accepted that user passwords should not be stored in plaintext, considering the risks of abuse that arise from persons accessing such data," Irish DPC Deputy Commissioner Graham Doyle said in a statement, according to Reuters.

The DPC is the lead EU regulator for most of the top US internet firms due to the location of their EU operations in the country.

It has so far fined Meta a total of 2.5 billion euros for breaches under the bloc's General Data Protection Regulation's (GDPR), introduced in 2018, including a record 1.2 billion euro fine in 2023 that Meta is appealing.