Lieutenant Nguyen Cong Nhi of Hanoi Police Department was tasked with the investigating a cyberterrorist group hacking the database of a Hanoi-based company.

Their illegal operations had seized VND44 billion (nearly US$1.4 million) and one of the hackers was on top of USA's most dangerous hackers list.

"If the case is not solved, not only one company was in danger, but many others will be at jeopardy," said Nhi.

For two months, Nhi and his team worked day and night to find the culprit and solve the crime.

Born in a family of farmers, the young Nguyen Cong Nhi always dreamed of becoming a policeman. He studied hard, and was accepted in the People's Police Academy. After graduation, Nhi started his career in the Cybersecurity and Prevention of High-tech Criminals Bureau of the Hanoi Police Department.

The 28-year-old perceived that, high-tech criminals are becoming younger in age, and to successfully solve a case, he must research hard into social media and other digital technologies.

"Many criminals are taking advantage of online games to commit crimes," he said.

"The crimes are more sophisticated, and I had to join social networks such as Zalo, Facebook and TikTok to acquire information."

Nhi has solved many cases, the first case just three days after he started with the police when he discovered a group of individuals committing cyber fraud in Lang Son.

“The individuals' pretended to be judicial police officers and blackmailed people by asking to transfer money to the individuals' account for verification," he said.

"Victims reported losses of more than VND3 billion ($125,400), and after expanding the investigation I discovered that the subject had defrauded many more people in HCM City. The HCM City Police then stepped in and arrested the criminals."

Among the many cases that were successfully cracked, bringing down a hacker ranked by the US as the most dangerous in the world was the one that surprised Nhi the most.

He said: “The investigation process encountered many difficulties because the subject had a very high level of information technology knowledge, all of the subject's manipulation of the data system were erased.

"False traces were left to distract the investigation agency and the police's verification, so myself and the officers and soldiers of the cybersecurity and high-tech crime prevention department had to try very hard, to find the subject. These criminal activities greatly affected the financial and credit activities of Vietnam and the world."

When approaching this case, the team tried to find out how a person can attack the system, appropriate such a large amount of money and almost erase all traces.

And for two months, Nhi and his team collected data and investigated the information.

With his outstanding achievements, Nguyen Cong Nhi was awarded many certificates in competitions and initiatives, improvements in labour, scientific and technical research, as well as for bravery in battle.

His colleague, Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Minh Hoan said that, despite his young age, Nhi has always shown himself to be an exemplary officer, with the will to work effectively. 

Source: Vietnam News