The High-Tech Crime Prevention Unit C15 – Ministry of Public Security has recently arrested several individuals related to high-tech crimes: targeted Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks on the server system of Nhân Hòa Company (Hanoi).
Mr. Trần Văn Hòa – head of the High-Tech Crime Prevention Unit C15 (Ministry of Public Security) confirmed that on the morning of July 31, 2006, C15 arrested one suspect in Bắc Ninh, after obtaining credible evidence that this individual, along with several others, had continuously launched DDoS attacks with malicious intent on the server system of Nhân Hòa – (a company providing Hosting and Domain services based in Hanoi).
The aforementioned case had been under discreet investigation by C15 for over a month. As of now, despite having sufficient evidence, C15 has not disclosed the identity or the legal actions against the arrested individuals, but they confirmed that further information would be released after completing the necessary procedures.
 |
DDoS attacks using Xflash are devastating and unstoppable! |
Mr. Vũ Đức Trung – (director of Nhân Hòa Company – who submitted the request for C15 to investigate) stated that about four months ago, his company’s servers were suspiciously subjected to continuous denial of service attacks.
“The intense DDoS attacks on random customer websites hosted on our servers overwhelmed the entire system and caused us to gradually lose customers. This significantly impacted our customer base, service quality, and the company’s reputation.” – Mr. Trung said.
After monitoring and “enduring” for a long time, Mr. Trung believed that his company was being intentionally targeted: “It is very likely a case of unhealthy competition from a similar service provider.” Consequently, he began documenting the details of each attack and sent log files to the BKIS Cybersecurity Center at Hanoi University of Science and Technology for assistance.
“Within our capabilities, BKIS could only identify leads and valuable related information, after which we advised Nhân Hòa to file a complaint with C15 – this unit has the authority to investigate.” – said Mr. Nguyễn Tử Quảng – director of BKIS.
With the resolute involvement of C15 and the collaboration of BKIS, the case has come to light. According to Mr. Quảng, there are currently two forms of denial of service attacks in Vietnam that are causing significant headaches: Botnet attacks and Xflash attacks.
Previously, C15 had also handled a similar case, arresting Nguyễn Thành Công (DantruongX) for executing denial of service attacks that caused damage to the e-commerce system of VietCo. At that time, DantruongX used a Botnet to attack, while the method used by the DDoS group in this case against Nhân Hòa was XFlash.
In fact, both forms of DDoS attacks are malicious and highly destructive to information systems. “Not only VietCo and Nhân Hòa, but as far as I know, almost all information systems and e-commerce platforms in Vietnam are currently being harassed by DDoS attacks. Legal deterrent measures at this time are, in my opinion, very necessary!” – concluded Mr. Quảng.
Thế Phong
