Vietnam says accusations it hacked China for virus information 'baseless'

A report which said Vietnamese government-linked hackers had attempted to break into Chinese state organizations at the center of Beijing's effort to contain the coronavirus outbreak is "baseless", Vietnam's foreign ministry said on Thursday. On Wednesday, U.S. cybersecurity firm FireEye said the hackers had tried to compromise the personal and professional email accounts of staff at China's Ministry of Emergency Management and the government of Wuhan, the Chinese city at the center of the pandemic.

"The accusation is baseless," foreign ministry spokesman Ngo Toan Thang told a regular news conference. "Vietnam forbids all cyberattacks, which should be denounced and strictly dealt with by law". Vietnam is willing to cooperate with international partners to combat cyberattacks, Thang added.