TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A cybersecurity survey has found Chinese state-backed hacking groups far outnumber those attributed to other major actors, with Taiwan described as facing some of the most intense pressure.

A recent survey by cybersecurity firm Forescout’s research unit Vedere Labs counted 210 China-based state-backed hacking groups, compared with 112 linked to Russia and 55 associated with Iran, per CNA. The report said activity from the groups reached 178 countries last year. 

Taiwan’s National Security Bureau said in January that cyberattacks directed at government infrastructure averaged 2.63 million daily in 2025. The agency said the figure was 113% higher than when it began compiling statistics in 2023 and 6% higher than 2024.

Methods range from distributed denial-of-service attacks, to bug exploitation, social engineering, and supply chain intrusions, according to the bureau. It added that since the second half of 2025, hackers have increasingly graduated from data theft to infiltrating systems in finance, energy, and healthcare.  

Vedere Labs noted that artificial intelligence has now become a fixture of the cyberthreat landscape, fitting into both reconnaissance and extractive activities while also helping to accelerate and scale up the work of hackers.