Vietnam: information screen's two major airports hacked

(AGI) Hanoi, 29 July 2016 - Screens displaying flight information at Vietnam's two major airports, Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat airports in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City respectively, were hacked Friday to contain distorted information about the South China Sea and insult Vietnam and the Philippines, Vietnamese state media reported. The sound systems at Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat airports were also affected, forcing airport authorities to switch off the flight information screens and sound system, the online VnExpress said. According to this local newspaper, the website of the national carrier, Vietnam Airlines, was also briefly hacked. Vietnam's Ministry of Transport said a Chinese hacker was responsible. The paper quoted Vietnamese Vice Minister of Transport, Nguyen Nhat, as saying the incidents did not affect the security or air traffic control at the airports. Earlier this month, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague dismissed China's territorial claims in the South China Sea saying they had "no legal basis". Vietnam also has overlapping claims to parts of the sea, which is rich in natural resources. (AGI) .