Apple publicized a list of security experts who contributed to the company’s development in May 2022 on its homepage. The list  thanks the experts who have found and reported bugs in Apple's web servers.

Hieupc, a familiar name to the Vietnamese community of security experts, is one of the 43 names honored by Apple. 

Hieupc (his real name is Ngo Minh Hieu) is well known as a hacker behind one of the largest ever user-identity selling systems.

Superget[.]info, the website created by the hacker, sold personal information of over 200 million people in the US. Hieupc was known as one of the hackers causing financial losses to the highest number of American people.

After a period of atonement in the US, Hieupc returned to Vietnam, starting life afresh and became a cyber security specialist and digital investigator at the National Cyber Security Center (NCSC). 

Since then, Hieupc has been a white hat hacker participating in community projects which give warnings and heighten awareness about cybersecurity. 

Hieupc told VietNamNet that he found two Apple bugs this year which both have relations with Apple’s online services. His two reports were recognized by Apple and one of them led to the decision to honor the hacker.

In Apple’s list, Hieupc is introduced as a member of CyKiller. Explaining the name, he said CyKiller is the old name of the CyPeace project (the Vietnamese name is ‘hoa binh khong gian mang’) which he founded.

The goal of CyKiller in the past and CyPeace now is to help individuals and businesses protect their brands from fake websites, and from being exploited by scammers to appropriate assets, affecting their prestige and fame.

“CyPeace helps individuals and businesses examine the security levels of websites and apps, under the analysis of experts.”

In March 2022, another member of CyPeace was also honored by Apple – Pham Tien Manh (Be May).

According to Hieupc, in order to ensure information security, Vietnam’s businesses need to make bigger investments in security solutions and infrastructure. It is necessary to attach importance to upgrading systems, software and hardware  in order to avoid vulnerabilities announced by suppliers.

He also advises businesses to heighten staff awareness about information security.

Businesses should use a part of their resources to invest in cyber security experts. They can create bounty programs to attract white-hat hackers who will seek vulnerabilities. 

Trong Dat