Cyberattackers Hijack Screens at Two Vietnam Airports, Broadcast Political Messages (washingtontimes.com)

An anonymous reader quotes an article from the Washington Times: Hackers on Friday successfully pulled off cyberattacks against Vietnam's two largest airports and the nation's flag carrier, Vietnam Airlines. The attacks -- attributed to a Chinese hacking group known as 1937CN -- ultimately failed to cause any significant security issues or air traffic control problems, Vice Minister of Transport Nguyen Nhat told local media. Nonetheless, the individuals briefly hijacked flight information screens and sound systems inside Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat airports in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, respectively...

Instead of departure and arrival details, the airports' flight screens and speakers broadcast what local media described as anti-Vietnamese and Philippines slogans, in turn prompting authorities to shut down both systems... Vietnam Airlineâ(TM)s website, meanwhile, "was seized control and transferred to a malicious website abroad" and... passenger data pertaining to an undisclosed number of its frequent flyers was published online as well, the airline said in a statement. Local media on Friday said about 100 MB of data concerning roughly 40,000 VMA passengers had been dumped online.

Comments

Reading comprehension fail

[rmdingler]

hijack... attack... airport... ho hum, another body count story.

Ohhhh... wait. Never mind. It's another computer security breach story... nothing ho hum about that.

Assuming this is state-sponsored, why would the State of China maliciously hack Vietnam? Their beef is seemingly with the Phillipines.

Re:Reading comprehension fail

[PolygamousRanchKid]

Actually, I was disappointed that the hackers only posted political messages.

I would have gone with the classic insult: "Pho You!".

Re:Reading comprehension fail

[Anonymous Coward]

Something like this achieves nothing else than make China look really bad. Now, who has the greatest interest in making China look bad?

Re:Reading comprehension fail

[Bowling Moses]

China has claimed basically all the South China Sea, including parts that are within the Exclusive Economic Zones of other countries. So China has territorial disputes with Vietnam, Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, as well as any nation sending its navy through "Chinese" waters. The China-Philippines dispute is the most prominent one due to the Philippines recent win against China at the Permanent Court of Arbitration as well as the 2012 Scarborough Shoal standoff where a Philippine Navy ship directly encountered "Maritime Surveillance" ships from China. China seems to come into conflict the most with the Philippines, probably in part due to the Philippines having a woefully ill-equiped military that is by far the weakest in the region.

Re:Reading comprehension fail

[Anonymous Coward]

Chinese nationalistic hackers! They always want the worst for the future of China and Chinese people.

Re:Reading comprehension fail

[djinn6]

This really doesn't seem like it's state sponsored. Broadcasting slogans isn't going to get the Vietnamese liking China any better, and as the government, there's more important things to hack than an airport PA system. You know, things like military installations.

From a political standpoint, the South China Sea is claimed by everybody, so everybody is in conflict with everybody else. Seriously, look at this map. There's a piece of it that's claimed by all 5 countries. Phillipines just got a new president who isn't as aggressive on the territory front so their conflict with China is probably going to wind down. Vietnam on the other hand is militarizing heavily and spreading a lot of anti-Chinese propaganda, which has since led to riots and ethnic violence against Chinese immigrants.

Re:Reading comprehension fail

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm sure they'll spin it as "adding to the economy", because they caused an entire "computer security" cottage industry full of scare-talking s'kiddies to spring into being... and profitability. Of course, it's nothing of the sort, but that doesn't stop them. In fact, they have already tried this argument before.

Re:Reading comprehension fail

[AHuxley]

Yet more AC propaganda stories to pull the nations away from China under the US 'Pivot' to Asia policy.
A big bold headline and then reality of the story becomes more clear.

Re:Reading comprehension fail

[SEE]

Why assume it's state-sponsored? The Chinese people are perfectly capable of irrational acts of nationalist vandalism all on their own. (It wasn't the Chinese government that denounced the US, attacked KFC and McDonald's outlets, and smashed iPhones in anger over the China-Philippines sea boundaries ruling.)

So, why would angry Chinese attack a Vietnamese target? Simple enough. Because a number of Vietnamese citizens went out and celebrated the sea boundaries ruling, denouncing China and praising the Philippines (without any state support, and in several cases getting arrested by the Vietnamese government for it).

Re:Reading comprehension fail

[rmdingler]

Why assume it's state-sponsored?

*That* is the right question.

As a Westerner, I have been taught the average Chinese citizen might be afraid to act out in such a manner.

Re: Trump 2016

[Anonymous Coward]

The agressor is china here, not the USA.

Sounds like a cheap attempt

[Anonymous Coward]

at whipping up some anger at China. It's so blunt and clumsy it could only have fit in a bad movie, and I refuse to believe it's some aggressive group of Chinese hackers doing this.

Upgrade to Windows 10 is not a political message

[Anonymous Coward]

And Microsoft didn't hijack the screens, they own them. Says so in the EULA.

What a nice idea

[Anonymous Coward]

What bout hacking those big screens on the Red Square and running Berlusconi-Putin gay pron there during May 9th parade?

Re: Trump 2016

[Anonymous Coward]

You have already concluded the whole investigation, and know the real truth? You must be a very smart person.

Re: I have a question about the third world...

[Anonymous Coward]

I also have a totally serious question. In the US, how can someone be so totaly brainwashed to generalize on such a gargamtuan scale? Seriously. With the access to internet, libraries, free press; how is such a restricted state of mind even possibke? Totally serious question.

Re: Trump 2016

[Anonymous Coward]

Regardless of whether he's right or wrong, the act of putting Hillary in prison is most certain to contribute towards world peace.

Re: I have a question about the third world...

[Anonymous Coward]

Because some people just like being ignorant. They don't want facts, because they know the truth.

Sadly, not all such people live in the USA.

Cyber

[xororand]

What is the current meaning of the "cyber" prefix anyway?
It seems to me it's only used in news and by politicians to imply "something unknown and scary on the Internet".

Ignore any calls for more US AIRLINE CONTROLS

[Anonymous Coward]

This is just some bullshit.

Why the fuck would China want to attack Vietnam airlines? Just start to think sometimes.

Really smart guys

[Solandri]

So Vietnam and the Philippines oppose what they see as China's invasive territorial claims to parts of the ocean which by International treaty belong to Vietnam and the Phillippines. The UN tribunal sides with them. And these Chinese hackers figure the best way to protest the UN ruling is... by hacking into computers in Vietnam? Way to go - you've just confirmed most Vietnamese's impression that the Chinese are dicks who don't care about other countries territorial rights.

Re: Really smart guys

[Anonymous Coward]

You have some proof that it was Chinese hackers?

When your own country is hacking everything and claiming the right to legally hack anyone, anywhere then you have zero credibility and zero high moral ground.

Chinese hackers are about as likely here as Americans causing tension and unrest. Neither scenario would surprise anybody outside of china and the US. You are both the same to the rest of us.