Vietnam Government Denies Botnet Involvement

The Vietnamese government has dismissed accusations that it was involved in recent cyberattacks launched to oppress those opposing a mining project in Vietnam.

Last week, both Google and McAfee blogged about a botnet being used to launch DDoS attacks against blogs containing messages of political dissent. The botnet also sought to squelch opposition to bauxite mining efforts in Vietnam. Google's Neel Mehta said the botnet was affection vietnamese computer users around the world and that the malware had infected the computers of potentially tens of thousands of users who downloaded it via Vietnamese keyboard language software and other legitimate but altered software. McAfee's CTO, George Kurtz, said that the company believed the perpetrators may have some allegiance to the government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

CNet reports that the Vietnamese government has branded the comments as "groundless," in a statement on its Website.

"Such comments are groundless. We have on many occasions clearly expounded our view on issues relating to access to and use of information and information technology, including the Internet. Vietnam law puts in place specific regulations against computer virus and malware as well as on information security and confidentiality."