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According to an investigation led by Amnesty International and various media groups, Vietnamese government agents reportedly targeted prominent US lawmakers and journalists with a spyware named Predator through posts on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Senators John Hoeven, Chris Murphy, Gary Peters, and Representative Michael McCaul were among those reportedly tagged in malicious posts aimed at installing the spyware.

The deceptive posts often emanated from an account named @Joseph_Gordon16, now deactivated from the platform, frequently contained links imitating legitimate news sites. While no targeted individuals reported spyware infections, CNN’s Jim Sciutto and two Taiwan-based reporters were also impacted.

The connection:
Amnesty International’s research indicates a possible connection between Vietnamese authorities and the spyware campaign, suggesting a nexus involving Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security and a firm related to Predator’s creators. Although the Vietnamese government has refrained from commenting, Amnesty’s findings emphasize that “the operator of the account had close links to VietNam and may have been acting on behalf of Vietnamese authorities or interest groups.”