10/09/2023

Probe Finds Vietnam Tried to Hack U.S. Officials, CNN

The attempts appear to have been unsuccessful

Vietnamese government agents tried to plant spyware on the phones of members of Congress, American policy experts and U.S. journalists this year in a brazen campaign that underscores the rapid proliferation of state-of-the-art hacking tools, according to forensic examination of links posted to Twitter and documents uncovered by a consortium of news outlets that includes The Washington Post.

Targeted were two of the most influential foreign policy voices on Capitol Hill: Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) and Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), a member of the Foreign Relations Committee and chair of its subcommittee on the Middle East. Also among those targeted were Asia experts at Washington think tanks and journalists from CNN, including Jim Sciutto, the outlet's chief national security analyst, and two Asia-based reporters.

The targeting came as Vietnamese and American diplomats were negotiating a major cooperation agreement intended to counter growing Chinese influence in the region, when Vietnamese diplomats would have been particularly interested in Washington's views on China and issues in Asia. President Joe Biden signed the agreement in September during a visit to Vietnam.

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Washington Post.