Viet Nam Human Rights
China’s cyber attacks threaten Internet freedom
10/8/16
Now, in many
respects, information has never been so free. There are more ways to spread
more ideas to more people than at any moment in history. The internet is
a crucial medium through which people can express themselves and share ideas
and has become an increasingly important tool through which democracy and human
rights activists mobilize and advocate for political, social, and economic
reform. And even in authoritarian countries,
information networks are helping people discover new facts and making
governments more accountable.
Yes, Internet
freedom has created more favorable conditions for enjoyment of rights of
expression and speech, but it has now been threatened by cyber attacks. Several
hostile and extreme groups of hackers, governmental and non-governmental, have
conducted many cyber attacks through sophisticated malware and virus. This has
become a common threat for the world internet security and even national
security.
On last Friday, an alleged Chinese hacker group carried out several
cyberspace attacks on Viet Nam’s two biggest airports and the official website
of the national flag-carrier Vietnam Airlines. During the time of the cyber
attacks, passengers at Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat International airports used
their smartphones to record clips of screens at the airports’ check-in areas
displaying pictures with words insulting Viet Nam and the Philippines regarding
the East Sea (South China Sea) dispute. These videos were posted to Facebook
and quickly went viral.
The
hackers also took control of the speaker system at Noi Bai airport for a few
minutes, during which the speakers broadcast a male voice distorting Viet Nam’s
claims over the East Sea in English. The hackers claimed to be the 1937CN from
China, which is one of the biggest hacker groups in the country and has a
history of hacking Viet Nam’s and the Philippines’ websites in 2013 and 2015,
respectively.
The hack affected
some 100 flights which were delayed by between 15 minutes and two hours, said
the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) in a statement, after the attack
interrupted the airports electronic check-in systems. Airport security forces
soon regained control over the hacked screens and speaker system. Partly
private Vietinbank, one of the country’s biggest banks by assets, said the bank
has taken the move until it can ensure there are no security risks. This
decision means that customers who use the bank’s credit card services to buy
tickets on the Vietnam Airlines website will be unable to do so until the
matter is resolved. “This is an appropriate move as we haven’t fully assessed
the effects of the cyber attacks,” said an executive of Vietinbank.
The maritime dispute
in the South China Sea has been decided by the arbitration court in disadvantage to China — but now it seems the sea spat has
been taken to cyber space.
Finland-based web
security company F-Secure claimed on
Thursday it has found a malware targeting the confidential information of
government and private organizations, including the Philippines' Department of
Justice.
The organizers of
the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit held in Manila last
November and an unnamed prominent international law firm, which represented
Philippines during the arbitration case, were not spared from the cyber
security attack.
The malicious
program dubbed "NanHaiShu" (南海鼠) translates to "South China Sea rat" in
English. F-Secure suspects it to be of Chinese origin. The Remote Access Trojan
(RAT) is disguised as an innocent file, usually sent through an email. But once
opened, it releases a virus into the victim’s computer, gathering and sending
back information to the attacker.
F-Secure said the
attacks all pointed to be politically-motivated, considering the timing of the
attacks. "They occurred either within a month following notable news
reports related to the dispute, or within a month leading up to publicly-known
political events featuring the said issue," F-Secure said in a published 16-page whitepaper.
F-Secure said it
stumbled upon the NanHaiShu malware when it explored the web security
environment ahead of the Manila APEC Summit. They traced the malware’s history
and found variants that coincided with developments in the dispute and
milestones in Manila’s arbitration case against Beijing. The recorded attacks
spanned late 2014 to March 2016.
F-Secure Threat
Intelligence Team Senior Manager Mina Aquino said on Friday that based on
organizations targeted, the attacker was most likely the Chinese government.
We must
condemn these activities, from China or any states, because these hackers and
cyber attacks have not just threatened states’ national security but also
jeopardized people’s enjoyment of human rights and democracy./.
Popular Posts
-
Religion is a part of the spiritual life in society, this phenomenon of the superstructure has been strongly changed with economic - social... -
Vietnam has just done well for the second cycle of Universal Periodical Review (UPR) in Geneva, Switzerland. So, what’s the UPR? an... -
Thai people in Shutdown Bangkok protests Not until this crisis, we have realized the ne... -
Representatives from foreign countries congratulate Viet Nam on its election to the Human Rights Council for the first time on November ... -
A street flowers vendor in Hanoi Another new spring has come to Vietnam, bring... -
If nothing changes, there will be a preferential credit program with hundreds of thousands billion of capital for agriculture and r... -
Recently, several anti-governmental individuals have established series of illegal groups and organizations in the name of civil soci... -
Radio Free Asia (RFA) is a private, nonprofit international broadcasting agency of the United States government that broadcasts and...
All comments [ 10 ]
Viet Nam ranks 12th in the list of countries facing the maximum cyber attacks, according to the Internet Security Threat report (ISTR19) released by the Symantec Corporation
Viet Nam had jumped nine spots because of the rapidly increasing number of mobile internet subscribers and users who lack good cyber security skills.
the level of attacks has increased, with hackers continuously innovating and improving their methods to avoid IT surveillance and defence.
Enterprises should protect their information data, instead of their equipment or data centers.
Firms should strengthen their safety infrastructure solutions to prevent loss of data.
The malware that recently attacked Vietnam Airlines is also hidden in the websites of government agencies, corporations, banks, research institutes, and universities.
Once the malware is in the system, it can collect passwords and enable hackers to control computers from afar.
The law on online information security, including regulations on preventing and fighting online terrorim takes effect on July 1, 2016.
Website defacement is an attack on a website's visual appearance, while phishing viruses allow hackers to steal sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details from victims.
Cybercriminals mostly target small- to medium-sized enterprises as well as individuals to steal financial information and demand ransoms.
Your comments