Security News > 2020 > April > Vietnamese Hackers Mount COVID-19 Espionage Campaigns Against China
A Vietnam-linked threat actor tracked as APT32 is believed to have carried out intrusion campaigns against Chinese entities in an effort to collect intelligence on the COVID-19 crisis, FireEye reports.
A state-sponsored hacking group also known as OceanLotus and APT-C-00, APT32 is believed to be well-resourced and determined, and was previously observed targeting corporate and government organizations in Southeast Asia.
"While targeting of East Asia is consistent with the activity we've previously reported on APT32, this incident, and other publicly reported intrusions, are part of a global increase in cyber espionage related to the crisis, carried out by states desperately seeking solutions and nonpublic information," FireEye points out.
Additional tracking URLs identified by FireEye revealed the targeting of China's Wuhan government and of another email account associated with the Ministry of Emergency Management.
"The COVID-19 crisis poses an intense, existential concern to governments, and the current air of distrust is amplifying uncertainties, encouraging intelligence collection on a scale that rivals armed conflict. National, state or provincial, and local governments, as well as non-government organizations and international organizations, are being targeted, as seen in reports," FireEye concludes.
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