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The latest investigation by the leading U.S. cybersecurity firm shows that the alleged state-backed hacker group may be behind a campaign to collect data from Vietnamese government officials. , amid a dispute over sovereignty over the South China Sea, which is increasing tensions between the two countries.
According to an investigation by the company that provides information on intelligence threats, Anomali, a group of hackers called Pirate Panda, is trying to trick Vietnamese officials into opening malicious Microsoft Excel documents attached in The email has details on the holidays.
The location the hackers attacked was officials in Da Nang, an area near the Paracel Islands, which has been considered a “hot spot” that has caused recent tensions between Vietnam and China due to efforts to claim it. Beijing sovereignty.
Pirate Panda is a group of hackers specialized in carrying out targeted attacks (APT) backed by the Chinese state. The group is famous for cyber attacks on governments and political organizations.
Pirate Panda is also a group of hackers focused on attacking and exploiting data on the subject of territorial sovereignty in the South China Sea.
In recent days, Vietnam has publicly opposed China’s new activities and has not acknowledged Beijing’s claims on the islands and rocks in the Paracel Islands, while China said Vietnam Man’s claims in this area are illegal.
Chinese hackers regularly launch cyber espionage campaigns targeting targets related to their territorial conflicts. In 2018, Chinese hackers attacked US defense and engineering companies. The US, who have access to confidential information related to the South China Sea dispute. This information is considered very useful for Beijing.
Neither Vietnam nor China have responded to this latest cyber attack.
Meanwhile, another US cybersecurity company. The US, FireEye, released a report last week showing that a group of hackers, allegedly backed by the Vietnamese government, launched an attack on the Chinese government website to seek information about Beijing’s treatment of COVID-19.
