On 25/9, the Ha Tinh Provincial People's Court sentenced 21-year-old Tran Quang Huy, originally from Ninh Binh, to 7 years in prison for "illegally accessing computer networks, telecommunications networks, or electronic devices of others," according to Article 289 of the Criminal Code.
In court, Huy expressed remorse, explaining that greed led him to commit the crime. He asked for leniency to return home and atone for his mistake.
The jury deemed Huy's actions dangerous to society, warranting a strict sentence as a deterrent.
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Defendant Huy at the online trial, connected from the Ha Tinh Provincial Police Detention Center to the courtroom of the Ha Tinh Provincial People's Court, morning of 25/9. Photo: Duc Hung |
Defendant Huy at the online trial, connected from the Ha Tinh Provincial Police Detention Center to the courtroom of the Ha Tinh Provincial People's Court, morning of 25/9. Photo: Duc Hung
Huy was a third-year student in the Information Technology Department at the Hanoi University of Finance and Banking. In late 2024, he visited a foreign hacker forum and responded to a post seeking someone to "scrape data" from Vietnamese state agencies' systems. He agreed to steal personal information for a fee of 1 million VND for every 50,000 records.
Authorities allege that in March 2025, after receiving an account from the hacker group, Huy logged into the administrative procedure system of Ha Tinh province. Using various techniques, he stole over 7,000 personal records.
On May 14th, realizing the severity of his actions, Huy turned himself in to the Ha Tinh Provincial Police.
Duc Hung
