Vietnam joins the ranks of governments using spyware to crack down on human-rights defenders.
Human-rights activists are being targeted by cyberattacks as part of a wider effort by the Vietnamese state to censor anyone speaking out against the government, Amnesty International’s Security Lab alleges.
Ocean Lotus, a well-known threat actor dating back to 2013, is behind the spyware campaign against human-rights defenders and has long been identified as having goals “aligned with the Vietnamese state interests,” according to Amnesty International’s report on the situation.
Spyware is just the latest tool turned against dissenting bloggers and activists by the Vietnamese government, an arsenal which also includes harassment, assault, travel bans and jail, the report explained.