Minister of Information and Communications: Avoid provocative behavior after hacker attack on airport

Previously, at around 5:00 p.m. on July 29, some information screens at the check-in areas of Tan Son Nhat and Noi Bai airports were inserted with images and text insulting Vietnam and the Philippines, distorting information about the East Sea.

When the incident occurred, passengers used their phones to record the strange sounds at Noi Bai airport and posted them on Facebook. In addition to the Chinese and English language, the airport's sound system was filled with screams, scaring many passengers. A few minutes after the incident, the Northern Airport Authority informed the police to clarify the cause.

Regarding this issue, on the evening of August 2, speaking to the press at the Government's regular July press conference, Minister of Information and Communications Truong Minh Tuan said that, regarding this incident, at the Government's regular meeting, Minister of Transport Truong Quang Nghia thanked the press for joining in solving the problem of hackers attacking the airport.

Minister Truong Minh Tuan said that the hack occurred at 4:00 p.m. on July 29 and two hours before the attack, the VNCERT Center and the Department of Information Security (Ministry of Information and Communications) sent a warning.

Minister of Information and Communications Truong Minh Tuan talks to the press.

According to Minister Truong Minh Tuan, up to now, after the incident occurred, units of the Ministry of Information and Communications, VNCERT Center, and the Department of Information Security have sent technical staff to the scene and joined with the National Airlines, the Department of Cyber ​​Security (Ministry of Public Security) and other business organizations to handle the emergency to promptly fix the incident.

By yesterday afternoon, all machines at Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat airports were operating normally. In addition, the Ministry has issued documents to ministries, local branches, and large corporations to strengthen inspection, supervision, review, and ensure information security.

According to Minister Truong Minh Tuan, after this incident, we need to strengthen measures to ensure information security. The Party, the Government, and directly the Prime Minister, have also issued many documents directing policies, documents on specific policies, plans and projects.

Most recently, the Prime Minister issued Decision 898 approving the direction and goals for ensuring information security in the 2016-2020 period. When implementing, agencies must harmoniously combine equipment investment, building and promulgating management procedures, and then operating training and drills after an incident occurs.

“Today, in such a developing cyber environment, we are not sure whether such an attack will still occur. None of us can completely prevent a cyber attack. In the future, potential risks like this will increase and be related to many other complex causes, so there will never be absolute safety, so we must be more vigilant and invest more in both human and technical resources to ensure information security,” said Minister Truong Minh Tuan.

In response to information that the airports were attacked by a hacker group in China, Minister Truong Minh Tuan stated that in principle, we must find the culprit with sufficient evidence to incriminate them. Furthermore, on their own forum, the hacker group also denied the accusation of attack. Therefore, to draw a final conclusion about the origin of this attack, a thorough technical investigation is needed.

“While the agencies and functional units are finding the culprit and clarifying the cause, we hope you will remain calm and cautious, and avoid speculation. Here, we would like to recommend to the press agencies and through the press agencies, recommend to the online community and the Vietnamese information community that we must comply with the law and professional ethics, avoid unnecessary provocations and challenges, such as using a Vietnamese hacker group to attack a hacker group from another country, which will affect our socio-economic development and national security,” Minister Truong Minh Tuan warned.

According to Minister Truong Minh Tuan, up to now we have ensured information security but still need to further strengthen our capacity to prevent attacks like this that can happen at any time.

According to Infonet