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+-----+ Topic: Hacking Attack At Vietnam Airports Another Chapter In South China Sea Dispute by dchph


Author: dchph posted on 8/13/2016 8:14:37 AM

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Brett Davis
CONTRIBUTOR
I cover news, business and society in 21st century Vietnam

A series of high prolife hacking attacks in Vietnam in recent weeks appears to be linked to the country’s overlapping territorial claims with China, and it has also brought to light the extent of online breaches that are occurring at major organizations.

At the end of July, the system of the country’s flag carrier Vietnam Airlines was breached, and the personal information of 400,000 of its frequent-flyer club members was dumped online.

And on July 29 the monitor screens displaying flight information at Hanoi’s and Ho Chi Minh City’s international airports were taken over and displayed derogatory messages about Vietnam and the Philippines regarding their dispute with China over territory in the South China Sea. The public announcement system at the airports was also hacked, and for several minutes played a similar message, spoken by a male voice in English.

The Philippines recently won a favorable international tribunal decision against Chine regarding the latter’s territorial claims in the region. Vietnam and China also both claim territory in the South China Sea, including the Spratly and Paracel Islands.

Not surprisingly, suspicions immediately fell on China. The message on the screens at the airport appeared to be signed by a China-based hacking group called 1937CN, which has previously attacked websites in Vietnam and the Philippines. The group has since denied any involvement in the cyber attack.

A leading Vietnamese cyber security firm BKAV said it had been monitoring similar malware used in the airport attack since 2012, and had found similar programs in the networks of government agencies, banks, universities and other institutions. Some local banks suspended online services for several days in the wake of the airport hack. The firm estimates possibly two thirds of websites in Vietnam have some kind of malware or spyware lurking on them.

Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry released a statement condemning the attacks and reassuring the public the authorities were taking action. “”Vietnamese authorities have taken swift measures to ensure security and safety at its airports, and cyber police are investigating the incident,” ministry spokesperson Le Hai Binh said in the statement.

At a post-cabinet press briefing the following week, Vietnam’s Minister for Communication and Information, Truong Minh Tuan, urged the local tech community to show restraint and not launch retaliatory attacks. “An investigation into technical issues must be conducted. [In the meantime], we have to remain calm and discreet and we should not make flawed assumptions,” Tuan said.

What is interesting is the very measured response from the Vietnamese government to an incident that could have been used to stoke the resentment of what is seen as China’s aggressive territorial ambitions. In the wake of The Hague ruling that largely dismissed China’s sweeping clams in the South China Sea the Vietnamese authorities stuck a similar tone, refusing to double down on their claims but rather sticking to its message of seeking diplomatic solutions and abiding by multilateral agreements.

This has not always been the case. Most notable was the government-backed protests in 2014 against a Chinese oil-exploration platform being placed off Vietnam’s southern coast that led to large scale rioting and looting of Chinese factories and businesses.

There seems to have been some lessons learned from that experience, and a new strategy of patience, doggedness and diplomacy now seems to be the order of the day. And given the decades long struggle of Vietnam to see off several foreign powers with just such a strategy, it may just work in the long run.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/davisbrett/2016/08/13/hacking-attack-at-vietnam-airports-another-chapter-in-south-china-sea-dispute/#7ac7dcbc4e44




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NOT ALL THE CHINESE RULERS LEARN THE SAME THE LESSONS OF VIETNAM'S HISTORY. LET'S TEACH THEM ANOTHER ONE, A CHINA 911 STYLE!
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