Taiwan High Speed Rail hacking leads to prosecution

The Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office has indicted a 23-year-old man for hacking the Taiwan High Speed Rail's Tetra radio communication system. The suspect, identified by the surname Lin, reportedly gained access to the system by exploiting a vulnerability that failed to verify authorized users and by guessing a subscriber ID.

On April 5, Lin used a radio device programmed with specific system parameters to infiltrate the system at Taoyuan HSR station. Later that night, while on a bus near the Taoyuan HSR station, he transmitted a ‘General Alarm’ (GA) signal. This caused the central control system to automatically relay the alarm to nearby train drivers, forcing four trains to perform emergency braking.

The incident resulted in a cumulative delay of 48 minutes for several operating and returning trains. Prosecutors have requested a two-year prison sentence for Lin, citing violations of the Railway Act and the serious threat to public transportation safety. A second individual, a 20-year-old man surnamed Chen, has also been indicted as an accomplice for providing the necessary radio equipment and system parameters.