Vietnam put on high alert against malicious code attacks

The National Computer Emergency Response Team (VNCERT) has released an emergency warning about malicious code attacks on banks and IT infrastructure firms. Photo by AFP

The National Computer Emergency Response Team (VNCERT) on Tuesday said Vietnam needs to urgently carry out the task of tracking, blocking and deleting malicious files aimed at stealing important information from banks and IT infrastructure in the country.

Hackers had recently attacked some banks and significant IT infrastructure entities in Vietnam, VNCERT said in an emergency announcement.

It said the hackers made sneaky probes into the attacked entities. They had used hi-tech measures to bypass cyber security systems, sought to seize control of users’ computers and get into other computer systems containing important information.

VNCERT urged local banks and IT infrastructure entities to take immediate measures to detect and prevent targeted attacks, which could disseminate malicious codes to steal data and destroy information systems.

It said banks and IT infrastructure entities need to track and block connections to Command-and-Control servers (C&C servers) with the following Internet Protocol (IP) addresses (38.132.124.250 and 89.249.65.220).

They should also scrutinize their IT systems and remove directories and files containing malicious codes, the agency said.