The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ asset management software actually hid Chinese source code, and the manufacturers involved in the case paid bail of RMB 200,000 to RMB 250,000.

Due to the demand for information asset management software, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has proposed an annual software procurement plan from 2023 to 2025. After three companies, including Anhe Technology, participated in the bidding, they claimed that their software was original from Taiwan and signed a severance agreement. Unexpectedly, the core source code and digital signature of the software came from China. The Taipei District Prosecutor's Office yesterday ordered investigators to conduct searches and interviews, and interviewed the heads of three companies and their business operations. After the re-interview, they were told to pay bail ranging from 200,000 to 250,000 yuan, and were restricted from leaving the country and overseas.

The investigation found that Lu Yikun, the actual person in charge of Anhe Technology Company, cooperated with Guangzhou Yixin Technology Company in China in the early years to develop a software called "IP-guard". The core source code and digital signature of the software came from Chinese manufacturers. However, after Lu Nan returned to Taiwan, he repackaged the software and participated in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' information asset management software procurement projects for a total of three years from 2023 to 2025 through Kunyun Technology Company, with a total amount of more than 20 million yuan.

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After Lu Yikun obtained the bid, he approached Yiwei Technology Company to assist in modifying the user interface and performing subsequent software maintenance. Because the manufacturers involved in the case signed a letter of agreement when bidding, indicating that the software was original in Taiwan and not from China; therefore, the software was installed in most of the computers of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' foreign embassies.

At the end of last year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs discovered anomalies in the software during a routine information security audit. Investigation revealed that some of the main source codes came from China. Seeing the seriousness of the situation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs quickly reported the case to the Bureau of Investigation.

After inspecting and collecting evidence, yesterday, seeing that the time was ripe, the troops were divided into 10 groups and went to three companies including Kunyou, Anhe, and Yiwei to conduct searches, and interviewed the persons in charge, Lu Yikun, Jiang Jiade, Wu Shengzhen, and the salesperson Zhan Zhongxin to explain the case. The entire case is being investigated on suspicions of fraud, forgery, and government procurement laws, and the scope of information security penetration and related criminal details have been clarified.

After the prosecutor's late-night retrial, the prosecutor told Jiang Jiade, the actual person in charge of Kunyou Company, to post bail of 250,000 yuan, and the other three people to post bail of 200,000 yuan each. All four of them were restricted from leaving the country or overseas.

Jiang Jiade, the head of Kunyong Technology, posted bail of 250,000 yuan and was restricted from leaving the country and overseas. (Photo by reporter Liu Yongyun)

Kunyou Technology business representative Zhan Zhongxin posted a bail of 200,000 yuan and was restricted from leaving the country and overseas. (provided by the public)

Wu Shengzhen, the head of Yiwei Technology, posted a bail of 200,000 yuan and was restricted from leaving the country and overseas. (provided by the public)