Vietnam says reports it hacked China for Covid-19 information ‘baseless’

It has stressed that it is against all forms of cyberattacks and threats to online security.

"This is baseless information. Vietnam strictly forbids cyberattack behavior targeting organizations and individuals in any form," Foreign Affairs Ministry deputy spokesman Ngo Toan Thang said Thursday at an online press meet.

He was responding to inquiries regarding U.S.-based cybersecurity firm FireEye alleging the Vietnamese government has been supporting hacker group APT32 to perform cyberattacks on governmental entities and businesses around the world, including China.

Cyberattacks and threats to online security must be condemned and strictly punished in accordance with the law, Thang said.

FireEye has alleged that hacker group APT32 has tried to compromise the personal and professional email accounts of staff at China’s Ministry of Emergency Management and the government of Wuhan, the Chinese city at the center of the global coronavirus pandemic, Reuters reported Wednesday.

APT32, a hacker group originating in Vietnam and also known as OceanLotus or Cobalt Kitty, has also been accused of compromising "governments, businesses and health agencies in search of information about the new disease and attempts to combat it."

Vietnam's National Assembly has passed the country's cybersecurity law in 2018, Thang noted, adding that the country was completing legal documents to execute the law and prevent cyberattacks.

"Vietnam is willing to cooperate with the international community to fight and prevent cyberattacks in any form," he said.