Asia-Pacific News

Vietnam webmasters brace for more attacks over sea dispute

Jun 10, 2011, 5:01 GMT

Hanoi - Webmasters have been warned tens of thousands of sites could be at risk of an escalating attack by Chinese hackers, state media reported Friday, as a maritime border dispute heated up between the two countries.

Over the past few days hackers have attacked over 1,500 sites, including government portals, leaving Chinese flags and abusive messages, Tuoi Tre newspaper reported.

The onslaught gathered steam Thursday as hackers attacked domain name servers to redirect them to other addresses, the report said.

The attack on the servers could affect tens of thousands of websites, the report quoted Vo Do Thang, director of the Athena Network Security Centre, as saying.

All internet service providers should be on high alert, he said, adding hackers were attacking Vietnamese sites 'systematically.'

The attacks are part of an ongoing dispute between the two countries over territory in the South China Sea, including the Spratly and Paracel islands. The spat has escalated in recent weeks after China allegedly harassed seismic survey vessels and fishing boats belonging to Vietnam operating in the area.

The dispute provoked rare protests in communist Vietnam, with hundreds of people gathering Sunday outside the Chinese embassy and consulate.

On the same day, Chinese Defence Minister Liang Guanglie pledged a peaceful solution to the territorial disputes in the South China Sea at an Asian security summit in Singapore.

China, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia and Brunei have competing claims over various parts of the South China Sea. The disputed islands and surrounding waters are believed to be rich in fish and mineral resources.

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