Vietnam’s network systems facing large-scale cyber attack

• Vietnam suffers over 6,200 cyber attacks in seven months
• Vietnam ranks sixth globally in DDoS attack sources
• More than 4,700 cyber attacks to Vietnamese websites reported in Q1

Vietnam’s network systems facing large-scale cyber attack.

The Authority of Information Security said over 400,000 IP addresses in Vietnam are contaminated with malware from an advanced persistent threat (APT).

It is possibly for both financial and political aims, it said. According to the Deputy Head of this authority, Mr. Nguyen Khac Lich, the attack comes from a well-organized foreign team, and the malware released this time is extremely dangerous.

“It has already attacked many state offices as well as individual users nationwide. For this reason, individual users should exercise great caution while communicating online", he added.

The malware was dispersed through disguised attachments on emails, with the contaminated files showing as normal documents (.doc). When a victim clicked on the files, the malware sneaked inside computers and stole personal information.

Besides stealing victims’ sensitive information, the malware is able to use the infected computer to attack others, creating a network to form a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack to complicated and critical systems.

The Authority of Information Security has provided tools to remove the malware on its website and the website of the ministry's Cyber security Emergency Response Teams/Coordination Center.