>> Local websites easy targets for hackers, experts say
>> Popular newswire VietNamNet hacked, again
VietnamNet, a popular online newspaper in Vietnam, admitted that it had been hacked once again on January 4.
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| VietnamNet announced the latest hack |
Bui Binh Minh, Assistant to the Editor in Chief, said the website was hacked by denial-of-service attack (DoS attack) or distributed denial-of-service attack (DDoS attack), bringing the number of visitors to 10 times higher than normal. As a result, the website became unserviceable for many hours.
According to initial assessments, the attack may originate from IP addresses both inside and outside the country. “If the attack came from other nations, VietnamNet would only need to block international bandwidths but the job is actually much more difficult because the breakdown caused by both domestic and foreign attacks," Minh added.
DDoS attack is the way in which hackers take advantage of information security problems of a system which initially brings more visitors then overloads the system, leaving it unserviceable entirely or partially. Therefore, the service must be temporarily halted.
VietnamNet is cooperating with Vietnam Computer Emergency Response Team (VNCERT) under the Ministry of Information and Communications and Internet service providers to investigate the hack.
VietnamNet has been hacked twice before; in November and December. The first time, the hacker completely changed the interface and erased the whole database in the server. The second time, a hacker controlled the newspaper’s content management system, exposing its internal conflicts.
