The number of cyber attacks on Macao are continuing to rise, with local broadcaster Teledifusão de Macao (TDM) announcing that it was targeted by hackers at around 7 pm yesterday.
The media company was alerted to the attack by the Macau Post and Telecommunications Bureau (also known by its Portuguese initials CTT). There was an abnormal amount of traffic on the TDM website and mobile applications during this time, which affected their ability to operate normally.
By 8:18 pm, TDM managed to resume regular service after implementing protocols recommended by CTT and the Macau Cybersecurity Incidents Alert and Response Centre (known by the Portuguese acronym CARIC).
TDM said that it would strengthen its cyber security measures in the wake of the incident.
[See more: Five Macao government websites have been attacked]
Last week, cybercriminals targeted five Macao government websites with a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack, which rendered them inaccessible for over three hours. Four out of the five websites belonged to government law enforcement agencies.
DDoS attacks involve using a considerable number of bots to overwhelm servers or websites in order to hamper their ability to function normally and provide service to ordinary users.
Local authorities point out that the frequency of such attacks on Macao have been soaring, with the Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak stating late last year that the figure had tripled in the last three years. Daily attacks reached an average of 5,800, according to data shared by CARIC.
Worldwide, cyberattacks are on the rise, with Forbes stating that over 343 million individuals fell victim to such crimes. Meanwhile, data breaches grew by 72 percent from 2021 to 2023.
