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26-12-17 Vietnam army
reveals 10,000-strong cyber warfare unit Communist party
tackles ‘wrong views’ as growing numbers of citizens go online
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. |