TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwanese business tycoon Terry Guo (郭台銘) on Thursday (March 24) urged the establishment of a cyber warfare task force as he threw his weight behind a new legislative commission promoting cybersecurity.

Guo, the founder of Apple supplier Foxconn, lauded the move to form a bipartisan commission dedicated to information security, while making a case for a new government agency responsible for coordinating the response to potential digital threats.

Citing a report by Microsoft that identified Russian use of a malware package called FoxBlade against Ukraine hours before the launch of missile attacks, Guo said in a Facebook post the online battlefield is an area that warrants attention. The country can learn from how the U.S. approaches the issue, he said.

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency formed the Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative (JCDC) in August 2021. JCDC networks use public and private resources to “unify defensive actions and drive down risk in advance of cyber incidents occurring,” according to an introduction of the initiative.

Guo believes Taiwan needs a similar task force to devise defensive strategies that protect the country’s infrastructure from being compromised in the event of a cyberwar. Taiwan has what it takes to form a cyber shield given its tech prowess, and as an important player in geopolitics, the country stands to gain with such a new agency that directly answers to the National Security Council, he argued.

Ukraine has mounted a counter cyber-offensive against Russia with an “IT army” that invited global hackers to join the front and take on tasks including bringing down Russian websites.