DSET Invited to Host Cybersecurity Tabletop Exercise at GCTF, Discussing Taiwan’s Cyber Defense with International Experts

On March 31, 2026, as part of this year’s Global Cooperation and Training Framework (GCTF) workshop, titled “Building Comprehensive Cyber Resilience: Policy Governance, Business Practices, and Technological Innovation,” DSET was invited to lead a Digital Resilience Tabletop Exercise (TTX). 

The Global Cooperation and Training Framework (GCTF) is an international capacity-building platform jointly administered by the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Japan–Taiwan Exchange Association, the Australian Office in Taipei, the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei, and the British Office Taipei. The workshop was held in Taipei from March 31 to April 2, 2026, and convened 132 participants, including 39 international experts and officials from 29 countries, alongside industry leaders.

The Digital Resilience TTX brought together government officials, cybersecurity experts, scholars, and industry leaders from around the world to simulate cybersecurity scenarios involving Taiwan’s critical infrastructure, with the aim of strengthening Taiwan’s cyber defence through international cooperation.

Invited by the organizers, DSET conducted a “Digital Resilience Tabletop Exercise.” Drawing on the experiences of cyberattacks on critical infrastructure in Ukraine and Taiwan, the exercise designed scenarios involving cyber threats to Taiwan’s Government Service Network (GSN), telecommunications, and energy infrastructure. It engaged international experts to role-play as the Taiwanese government, foreign governments, and global private industries, simulating the decision-making and practical responses of all parties during a crisis in Taiwan.

The exercise was jointly facilitated by DSET’s National Security Division, Energy Resilience Division, and Public Relations Division, along with colleagues from the National Institute of Cyber Security (NICS). Adjunct Researcher Ren-Wei Chang of the National Security Division designed the exercise and briefed the scenarios on-site, while Tsai-Ying Lu, Head of the Energy Resilience Division, and other colleagues assisted the international experts in group discussions.

The design of this tabletop exercise was closely aligned with contemporary and highly complex cyber-physical attacks. It explored the potential cascading effects when multiple critical infrastructures face extreme, deliberate, and systemic destructive threats. The exercise scenarios included the following:

• Digital Paralysis and Cognitive Interference: The Government Service Network (GSN) and backup communication transceiver facilities were targeted by destructive malware (Wipers), while the Public Warning System (PWS) was hijacked by hackers to broadcast disinformation and incite social panic.
• Physical Destruction and Energy Disruption: Hostile actors launched physical drone attacks on domestic Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) and deployed conductive fiber soft bombs on high-voltage substations, resulting in a loss of power supply to critical data centers.
• Island Effect and Transnational Disconnection: Multiple submarine cable connections were deliberately and covertly sabotaged with the intent to sever Taiwan’s digital connectivity with the rest of the world.

DSET expresses its sincere gratitude to the GCTF co-hosts for the invitation and to the international experts for their valuable insights provided during the exercise. This year, DSET will continue to focus its research on the cybersecurity of Taiwan’s critical infrastructure. In the first half of the year, DSET expects to publish a “Comparative Report on Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity Defenses in Taiwan and Ukraine” and will continue to support cybersecurity cooperation between Taiwan and the world.