Financial Times, December 26, 2017
Vietnam has revealed its recruitment of more than 10,000 people to a cyber warfare unit as it seeks to battle “wrong” views being spread online.
Nguyen Trong Nghia, a senior lieutenant-general in the Vietnam People’s Army, divulged the existence of “Force 47” in a Christmas Day speech in Ho Chi Minh City, state-controlled media in the Communist-ruled country said on Tuesday.
Nearly 63 per cent of Vietnam’s 96m population goes online, he was quoted as saying — a development that, he said, “has two sides; on the negative side, the enemy takes advantage of the internet to create chaos”.
Lt Gen Nguyen, deputy head of the Vietnamese military’s political department, made the remarks at a conference on “propaganda activities” attended by Communist party officials.
“The Central Military Commission is very interested in building up a standing force to counter the wrong viewpoints,” he said, referring to the party’s branch in the military.
He added that the military would work with internal security and other forces in Vietnam to build a specialised cyber warfare force.
“I see other countries declaring that there is a real cyber war,” he said. “Therefore in every hour, minute, and second we must be ready to fight proactively against the wrong views.”
The announcement of Vietnam’s force of cyber warriors brought comparisons with China’s 50 Cent Army or 50 Cent Party, the internet commenters hired by Chinese authorities to shape public opinion in the ruling Communist party’s favour.
FireEye, the cyber security company, said Vietnam had built up “considerable cyber espionage capabilities” in a region with weak defences.
“Many nations are actively building up their cyber capabilities as part of their military, intelligence, and surveillance programmes,” said Bryce Boland, the company’s chief technology officer for Asia Pacific.
FireEye said the proliferation of cyber espionage capabilities was becoming “more common than not” and would have implications for governments, journalists, activists and even multinational companies.
The California-based company this year identified what it said was a “significant intrusion campaign” into several companies with business interests in Vietnam, which it said was “aligned with Vietnamese government interests”.
Targets of the campaign included members of the Vietnamese diaspora in Australia and government employees in the Philippines.
However, Vietnam’s government said at the time that it did not allow cyber attacks against organisations or individuals.
Freedom House, the democracy watchdog, recently gave Vietnam a rank of 76 out of a possible 100 points in its “Freedom on the Net” ranking of online restrictions, awarding the country poor marks for limits on content and violations of users’ rights.
Vietnam is cracking down on activists, including bloggers, in an apparent sign of growing intolerance to public criticism aired on social media.
Last month a court sentenced Nguyen Van Hoa, a 22-year-old blogger, to seven years in prison after finding him guilty of “spreading anti-state propaganda” for reporting on a devastating chemical waste spill by a Taiwanese-owned factory in central Vietnam.
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December 26, 2017
Vietnam army reveals 10,000-strong cyber warfare unit
by Nhan Quyen • [Human Rights]
Financial Times, December 26, 2017
Vietnam has revealed its recruitment of more than 10,000 people to a cyber warfare unit as it seeks to battle “wrong” views being spread online.
Nguyen Trong Nghia, a senior lieutenant-general in the Vietnam People’s Army, divulged the existence of “Force 47” in a Christmas Day speech in Ho Chi Minh City, state-controlled media in the Communist-ruled country said on Tuesday.
Nearly 63 per cent of Vietnam’s 96m population goes online, he was quoted as saying — a development that, he said, “has two sides; on the negative side, the enemy takes advantage of the internet to create chaos”.
Lt Gen Nguyen, deputy head of the Vietnamese military’s political department, made the remarks at a conference on “propaganda activities” attended by Communist party officials.
“The Central Military Commission is very interested in building up a standing force to counter the wrong viewpoints,” he said, referring to the party’s branch in the military.
He added that the military would work with internal security and other forces in Vietnam to build a specialised cyber warfare force.
“I see other countries declaring that there is a real cyber war,” he said. “Therefore in every hour, minute, and second we must be ready to fight proactively against the wrong views.”
The announcement of Vietnam’s force of cyber warriors brought comparisons with China’s 50 Cent Army or 50 Cent Party, the internet commenters hired by Chinese authorities to shape public opinion in the ruling Communist party’s favour.
FireEye, the cyber security company, said Vietnam had built up “considerable cyber espionage capabilities” in a region with weak defences.
“Many nations are actively building up their cyber capabilities as part of their military, intelligence, and surveillance programmes,” said Bryce Boland, the company’s chief technology officer for Asia Pacific.
FireEye said the proliferation of cyber espionage capabilities was becoming “more common than not” and would have implications for governments, journalists, activists and even multinational companies.
The California-based company this year identified what it said was a “significant intrusion campaign” into several companies with business interests in Vietnam, which it said was “aligned with Vietnamese government interests”.
Targets of the campaign included members of the Vietnamese diaspora in Australia and government employees in the Philippines.
However, Vietnam’s government said at the time that it did not allow cyber attacks against organisations or individuals.
Freedom House, the democracy watchdog, recently gave Vietnam a rank of 76 out of a possible 100 points in its “Freedom on the Net” ranking of online restrictions, awarding the country poor marks for limits on content and violations of users’ rights.
Vietnam is cracking down on activists, including bloggers, in an apparent sign of growing intolerance to public criticism aired on social media.
Last month a court sentenced Nguyen Van Hoa, a 22-year-old blogger, to seven years in prison after finding him guilty of “spreading anti-state propaganda” for reporting on a devastating chemical waste spill by a Taiwanese-owned factory in central Vietnam.