The incident led airport staff to avoid computer-based check-ins for hours.

This doesn't necessarily mean that it's a state-sponsored attack, assuming the details are accurate. When asked, the Chinese consulate in Ho Chi Minh City told the BBC that this was a "shameless and cowardly" hack that "stained the dignity" of China. However, it's difficult to say for sure that this was strictly the product of overly patriotic citizens. While that sort of private activism has happened in the past, the Chinese government is no stranger to conducting its own hacks and trying to mask their origins. The one certainty: whoever's ultimately responsible, they knew that airport hacks would send a loud message without requiring ships or bullets.