TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The number of cyberattacks, most likely from Chinese sources, against the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) increased 40-fold in 2020 compared to 2018, reports said Monday (March 29).

The total number for last year amounted to more than 778,000, or 2,100 per day, the Liberty Times reported. Hackers were also becoming smarter, applying a wider variety of methods to try and penetrate MOFA’s cybersecurity, the report said.

One of the reasons for the huge increase was also that the ministry included a larger group of online events in the list of attacks and security scares. Nevertheless, direct attacks, often through social networks, increased dramatically during the pandemic last year, according to officials.

MOFA is planning to spend NT$297.59 million (US$10.43 million) on cybersecurity in its 2021 budget. The new method of calculating and analyzing the attacks would allow the ministry to improve its preparations to keep vital data safe from Chinese hackers, officials said.