National Institute of Cyber Security Leak Scandal: Research Center Deputy Director Hsu Shih-chang Questioned and Released on NT$200,000 Bail

On May 12, 2026, the Taipei District Prosecutors Office launched a second wave of searches and questioning regarding an insider leak scandal at the National Institute of Cyber Security (NICS). NICS is a state-level cybersecurity institution established under the Tsai Ing-wen administration and overseen by the Ministry of Digital Affairs (moda). Investigators revealed that team members within the institute allegedly used web crawlers and worms to illegally access and download confidential documents and personal data, uploading them to a shared cloud storage space nicknamed the "Wishing Well." Investigators suspect Hsu Shih-chang, the Deputy Director of the Frontier Research and Acquisition Center (Frontier Research Center) at NICS, of masterminding or authorizing the operation. Following questioning, prosecutors determined that Hsu was suspected of violating the Personal Data Protection Act and offenses against computer security, ordering him released on NT$200,000 bail. The scandal has not only raised serious concerns over management failure within the nation's top cybersecurity body but also dealt a severe blow to the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration's long-championed narrative of "cybersecurity is national security."