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Taiwan launches free malware database to boost security

Database said to be the first in the world to be open to the public for free, and contains information on malicious software, computer viruses, decoy IP addresses and how to detect, identify and remove them.
Written by Ellyne Phneah, Contributor

Taiwan's National Center for High Performance Computing (NCHC) has launched a free malware database to help businesses, academics and the public identify and defend against cyberattacks.

According to Focus Taiwan News Channel on Friday, the NCHC, part of the National Applied Research Laboratories, said this is the first malware knowledge database open to the public for free.

The repository includes data on around 200,000 malicious software pieces, information to help remove more than 3,000 computer viruses and 6,000 decoy IP addresses monitored throughout the day to detect and identify attacks, Tsai I-lang, research associate at NCHC, noted in the report.

It also utilizes Google Earth to trace malware sources and attack patterns predicted after running data comparisons, an NCHC official said in a separate report on Taiwan Today, adding gives relevant government agencies time to react and counter possible threats.

The official also said the country is hit by 3.4 million cyberattacks on average per day, one of highest numbers in the world. The top three sources are Russia, the U.S. and Romania.

"Cyberattacks are ubiquitous and Taiwan, with its central location in Asia and widespread diffusion of information, [so we must] must tighten Internet security to ensure it does not fall prey to such crimes," the official said.

taiwan
Taiwan's malware knowledge database utilizes Google Earth to trace malware sources and attack patterns (Source: owl.nchc.org.tw/km)

Taiwan's government has been making efforts to step up measures against cyberattacks. In September 2012, the ministry of national defense said it intends to expand its cyberwar capabilities by creating a specialist group for electronic and Internet warfare, and also establish an experimental facility for simulated cyberwarfare to raise the military's online defense capabilities.

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