The Hanoi police have officially opened a criminal case on the charge of “negligently disclosing state secrets” after it was discovered that a portion of the national high school graduation exam’s math section was leaked during the test on June 26.

A photo of the exam appeared on an artificial intelligence (AI)-based math-solving application during the official testing period (2:30–4:00 p.m.), before the exam had ended. The leak caused public concern, especially among parents and students, regarding exam integrity and security.

Immediately after the incident, the Department of Internal Political Security under the Ministry of Public Security directed the Hanoi police to initiate a prompt investigation.

The Hanoi Internal Political Security Division coordinated with various units from the Ministry of Public Security, the Investigation Security Department, and the Cybersecurity and High-Tech Crime Prevention Department to verify the case.

Initial findings revealed that candidate N.V.K. smuggled a mobile phone into the exam room, secretly photographed part of the math exam, and uploaded it to the StudyX application for help. The student was only able to copy the answers to two questions. Furthermore, N.V.K. was also found to have photographed and uploaded the chemistry and physics exams on June 27.

Expanding the investigation, police uncovered a similar violation by candidate L.T.M.A., who also brought a phone into the exam room, took photos of the math, history, and English exams, and used the AI app Gemini to solve the questions. This act was discovered by the exam board, documented in an incident report, and resulted in disqualification according to official regulations.

The case is currently under active investigation by the Hanoi police, who aim to strictly punish those involved, in accordance with the law.

According to investigators, the breach stemmed not only from deliberate cheating by students but also from certain invigilators failing to fully uphold their duties. Despite the Hanoi examination board conducting multiple training sessions for proctors and inspectors on preventing exam fraud, lapses in enforcement created vulnerabilities.

Moving forward, the Hanoi police will coordinate with the education sector to enhance awareness, training, and accountability among exam supervisors. Authorities also plan to research and implement technical and IT solutions to better monitor exam environments and prevent future incidents.

The Internal Political Security Division of Hanoi emphasized that photographing and uploading confidential exam questions to the internet or AI platforms during a protected testing window is a violation of state secrecy laws.

Violating students face immediate disqualification, nullification of their test results, and possible administrative or criminal penalties depending on the severity and consequences of their actions.

Tien Dung