It is necessary to prevent violations of the Law on Cyber Security.
(Baonghean) - There is currently no specific assessment from the authorities on the situation of violations of the Law on Cyber Security in the province, but through some specific cases it can be seen that the violations are becoming more complicated.
Widespread violations
“There is no end to the work,” said Ha Huy Duc, Captain of the High-Tech Crime Prevention Team, Criminal Police Department (Nghe An Police) when asked about the situation of high-tech crimes. “In 2018, the Criminal Police Department, Nghe An Provincial Police discovered 10 special cases, arrested, prosecuted, and administratively handled 76 criminals and violators of the law on high technology use.
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| 6 out of 8 subjects were prosecuted and temporarily detained by Thai Hoa Town Police in the project to eradicate an online gambling ring. Photo: PB |
Compared to 2017, there were 6 more cases and 30 more subjects. The police also received hundreds of reports and denunciations related to high-tech crimes, causing a loss of more than 30 billion VND," Major Duc said, adding that the department had not yet compiled a list of cases and subjects in the first quarter of 2019, but the number of cases and subjects was increasing. The nature of online fraud cases is also increasingly complicated, making investigation more difficult.
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| Subjects with online fraud behavior and evidence. Photo: Pham Bang |
Typically, Vinh City Police coordinated with the Ministry of Public Security's professional departments to crack down on a case, arresting 13 people from Quang Tri province who hacked Facebook and then defrauded them of their property. Initially, the police agency clarified that this group had defrauded more than 500 victims, illegally profiting more than 20 billion VND. "Each case they appropriated an average amount of 50 - 100 million VND, but there were also some cases of more than 300 million VND. The victims of this group were from all provinces and cities, even abroad. When we raided and arrested them, this group was also defrauding a woman in Da Lat City of 50 million VND," said Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Huu Cuong - Deputy Head of Vinh City Police.
Not only fraud, the acts of taking advantage of the internet to organize gambling through games are becoming more and more popular. At the end of April 2019, Thai Hoa Town Police eradicated an internet gambling ring with extremely sophisticated forms and tricks through the form of "exploding jar" game, prosecuted 8 defendants and handled 40 subjects. What is special is that this ring operates everywhere, from Ha Giang to Ha Tinh. In Nghe An province, these subjects set up level 2 agents in Thai Hoa Town, Nghia Dan, Vinh City and then "recruited" gamblers to participate in gambling online.
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“The Investigation Police Agency has determined that in many provinces and cities across the country, there are about 23 other level 1 agents of this gambling ring. On average, there are hundreds of gamblers participating every minute with transaction amounts of up to hundreds of millions of VND. Initially, the amount of money that this ring used to convert virtual money into real money and vice versa was determined and proven to be about 10 billion VND,” said Lieutenant Colonel Tran Ngoc Tuan, Chief of Thai Hoa Town Police.
Need full awareness
In fact, prohibited acts in cyberspace are regulated in many articles of the Law on Cyber Security, which covers a wide range of fields and issues. There is currently no specific report summarizing violations of the Law on Cyber Security handled by the authorities of Nghe An province.
This article only mentions the acts that have occurred and been verified and handled by the authorities in the recent past. The most typical of these are the two acts of providing false information causing confusion among the people, causing damage to socio-economic activities, causing difficulties for the activities of State agencies or public servants, infringing on the rights and legitimate interests of other organizations and individuals, and acts of appropriating property; organizing gambling, gambling over the internet; stealing international telecommunications charges on the internet and in cyberspace.
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| False comments about the Muong Moc dike breach (Nam Mo Hydropower Plant) on social networks have caused panic among many people. |
One day in late July 2018, Mr. Luong Ngoc Tuan (resident of Dien Ngoc commune, Dien Chau district), who was then an engineer in the repair team of Nam Mo Hydropower Plant in Ta Ca commune, Ky Son district, wrote on Facebook: "The Muong Moc dike, 90 kilometers from Nam No, is about to break, Muong Xen town is likely to be wiped out tonight. Everyone, please evacuate while you still have time...". In fact, at that time, Nam Mo Hydropower Plant was discharging floodwaters according to procedures to ensure the safety of property and lives of people, so the water level on Nam Mo river was rising. Tuan's comments caused confusion and anxiety for people in Ky Son and Tuong Duong districts.
Many families moved their properties because they believed the information written by Tuan. After verifying, Ky Son District Police worked with and asked Luong Ngoc Tuan to immediately delete the above comment and post an apology to the people on his personal page. Tuan was later also fined 12.5 million VND by the Chairman of Ky Son District People's Committee for posting false information on Facebook.
Or recently, Mr. Le Huu Thuan - Deputy Secretary of the Party Cell, Head of the Department of Marxist-Leninist Theory and Ho Chi Minh Thought (Tran Phu Political School, Ha Tinh province) has just been suspended from his position. The reason is that he posted false information about the health of high-ranking officials of the Party and State on his personal Facebook page. Currently, the Inspection Committee of the Party Committee of the Agencies and Enterprises of Ha Tinh province is reviewing the level of Mr. Le Huu Thuan's violations to make a decision to discipline him. Obviously, this is an act with signs of serious violation of the Law on Cyber Security and regulations of the Party and State, especially regulations on what Party members are not allowed to do. Mr. Thuan's actions have seriously affected his personal honor and the reputation of the Party organization and the school, causing outrage among officials, Party members and public opinion.
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| Hundreds of people from Xa Luong commune, Tuong Duong district went up the mountain because of false information about the Ban Ve Hydropower Dam collapse on social networks. Photo: Archive |
The case of Luong Ngoc Tuan, or Mr. Le Huu Thuan is just one of many examples of unverified information but false comments and opinions on Facebook just for the reason of "having fun". Or information about child kidnapping, recently the frequency and density of people posting, sharing, and commenting on social networks has been quite dense. When the authorities verified, that information was not true. However, the consequence was that many people believed it, and from there, committed wrongful acts. If according to the Law on Cyber Security, these are all illegal acts, and will be strictly handled according to regulations.
It must be reaffirmed that the National Assembly's promulgation of the Cyber Security Law is necessary, thereby ensuring national security, social order and safety and the legitimate rights of organizations and individuals. Therefore, people need to have a full awareness and a correct attitude towards actions in cyberspace. All violations will be strictly handled in accordance with the law, without exception and cannot be justified as "just for fun" or "not knowing".