Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Vietnam agents tried to plant spyware on phones of US lawmakers and journalists: probe
thehill ^ | 10/9/2023 | JULIA SHAPERO

Posted on 10/09/2023 1:38:50 PM PDT by bitt

Vietnamese government agents apparently targeted several U.S. lawmakers and journalists with spyware using public posts on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, according to an investigation by Amnesty International and a consortium of media outlets.

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) and Sens. John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Gary Peters (D-Mich.) were all tagged in posts earlier this year that featured malicious links to install Predator, a spyware similar to Pegasus, the investigation found.

McCaul, who serves as the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, was allegedly targeted in a reply to a tweet from Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while Hoeven was allegedly targeted in a reply to a post from Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen about the senator’s visit.

Peters, the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, and Murphy, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, were both tagged in a reply to a tweet from an Albanian politician about their visit to the Balkan nation.

CNN, its chief national security analyst Jim Sciutto and two other reporters based in Taiwan were also targeted with malicious links to install the Predator spyware, the investigation found.

Most of the posts on X came from the account @Joseph_Gordon16, which has since disappeared from the social media platform, and often included links that mimicked news sites.

The Washington Post reported that none of the targeted individuals it reached out to said their devices had been infected with the spyware. The Post was part of the consortium of outlets participating in the investigation.

Amnesty International said its findings “suggest that agents of the Vietnamese authorities, or persons acting on their behalf, may be behind the spyware campaign.”

(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...


TOPICS: Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: hack; phones; spyware; twitterx; usofficials; vietnam; x

1 posted on 10/09/2023 1:38:50 PM PDT by bitt
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: null and void; aragorn; EnigmaticAnomaly; kalee; Kale; AZ .44 MAG; Baynative; bgill; bitt; ...

P


2 posted on 10/09/2023 1:39:04 PM PDT by bitt (<img src=' 'width=40%>)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: bitt

LOL ….. every country, in the world, is trying to place spyware on their enemies phones


3 posted on 10/09/2023 1:41:28 PM PDT by no-to-illegals (The enemy has US surrounded. May God have mercy on them.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

And their friends phones


4 posted on 10/09/2023 1:42:47 PM PDT by no-to-illegals (The enemy has US surrounded. May God have mercy on them.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: bitt

Everyone spies on everyone. The main rule of international intelligence agencies.

Catch them and sanction them as you can. But expect them to keep spying because they will


5 posted on 10/09/2023 1:46:05 PM PDT by Seruzawa ("The Political left is the Garden of Eden of incompetence" - Marx the Smarter (Groucho))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: cba123

Pingu.


6 posted on 10/09/2023 1:50:49 PM PDT by Olog-hai ("No Republican, no matter how liberal, is going to woo a Democratic vote." -- Ronald Reagan, 1960)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: bitt

“Vietnamese government agents apparently targeted several U.S. lawmakers and journalists with spyware using public posts on X”

Vietnamese government agents: you VC. You #10.


7 posted on 10/09/2023 1:54:33 PM PDT by FMBass (Que sais Je)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: bitt

But the phones were already so full of DOJ Spyware, the programs had no space in memory capacity.


8 posted on 10/09/2023 2:07:40 PM PDT by blackdog ((Z28.310) My dog Sam eats purple flowers.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: FMBass
You #10

Ha!

9 posted on 10/09/2023 2:11:47 PM PDT by existtoexcel
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: bitt

Spyware?! Hahahahahahah, who needs spyware when you can just listen to every phone and a computer searches for info among the data…


10 posted on 10/09/2023 2:31:28 PM PDT by The Louiswu (Pray for Peace in the world.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: bitt

Joe was just over in Vietnam cutting energy deals with them. Just days after Joe left, Vietnam detained an energy expert. Another five energy and climate experts are also currently detained in Vietnam.


11 posted on 10/09/2023 2:45:47 PM PDT by mass55th (“Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.” ― John Wayne)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: bitt

“CNN, its chief national security analyst Jim Sciutto and two other reporters based in Taiwan were also targeted with malicious links to install the Predator spyware”

Why target their friends? I’m pretty sure CNN broadcasts are very similar to Vietnamese communist broadcasts.


12 posted on 10/09/2023 2:51:46 PM PDT by lowbridge ("Let’s check with Senator Schumer before we run it" - NY Times)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: bitt

Surprised they could find room what with all the Chinese, Russian, and for all we know, Lithuanian and Canadian spyware.


13 posted on 10/09/2023 2:54:49 PM PDT by 75thOVI (Any sufficiently advanced stupidity is indistinguishable from malice.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: bitt

“Me love you long time, Joe. Oh, is that new Apple iPhone? Can I see for minute?


14 posted on 10/09/2023 2:57:36 PM PDT by moovova ("The NEXT election is the most important election of our lifetimes!“ LOL...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: bitt

Vietnam can just pay the politicians like so many other counties do.....


15 posted on 10/09/2023 10:02:32 PM PDT by minnesota_bound (Need more money to buy everything now)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: bitt

Bomb Hanoi and mine Haiphong harbor

Just to return the luv


16 posted on 10/09/2023 10:17:45 PM PDT by Regulator (It's fraud, Jim)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson