The Viettel Cyber Security Company (VSC), a subsidiary of the Viettel Military Industry and Telecoms Group has become a member of the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG).
According to a news report, the membership is a new step for the company in connecting and sharing network security knowledge and early warnings, to help prevent the threat of cyberattacks on a global scale. As a member, the VSC now has access to international-level information on cybersecurity risks to promptly develop suitable action plans. Established in 2003, the APWG is an industry association focused on unifying the global response to cybercrimes. There are more than 2,000 enterprises worldwide participating in the group.
The VSC’s Make-in-Vietnam Threat Intelligence technology, meanwhile, has become the first Vietnamese product selected to be part of the APWG’s network. Launched in October, the platform is a modern network security solution focusing on gathering and analysing information on current cyber-attacks and potential threats to organisations’ and businesses’ assets, reputation, and safety. Equipped with data from internal studies conducted by leading Viettel experts, it is being applied in the services of Viettel and a number of banks in Vietnam.
Vietnam’s Internet economy could witness a 29% growth over the next five years. The central pillar supporting this trend is a digital ecosystem of firms and consumers. Firms that provide IT services to businesses will be key to a successful digital transformation in Vietnam and the digital transformation in turn will create opportunities in IT-enabled services and Industry 4.0.
For instance, the cloud services market in Vietnam is projected to grow to US$291 million by 2024, a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of above 10%. With Vietnam being one of the largest targets for cyberattacks in the world, enhancing information safety is a crucial issue the country needs to address as it aims for complete digital transformation.
It is also necessary to build a capable workforce specialised in cybersecurity, the Minister of Information and Communication (MIC) Nguyen Manh Hung said during the annual International Conference and Exhibition Vietnam Information Security Day.
Vietnam’s digital economy is expected to reach US$14 billion, a year-on-year increase of 16%, and will likely reach US$52 billion in 2025, re-accelerating to nearly 29% in CAGR, a media report has noted.
This rapid growth is underpinned by a broader digital transformation in the country. Vietnam’s National Programme for Digital Transformation is aimed at ensuring more than 80% of households have access to fibre-optic infrastructure by 2030. The program also entails that the digital economy forms 10% of every sector, which could result in annual productivity increases of 7%.
As OpenGov Asia reported, the country must also continually update its technologies to protect the national cyberspace. Stimulating digital transformation has made Vietnam more vulnerable to cyber threats. More than 1.6 million cyberattacks over the first half of 2020 targeted small and medium-sized enterprises in Southeast Asia. Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam experienced the largest number of attacks.
The rise in the attacks has skyrocketed since March when COVID-19 reached its first peak, and the entire country was social distancing. Cybercriminals took advantage of the chaos to perform non-technical attacks such as fraud via sending e-mails. By attaching COVID-19-related information to messages, the rate of clicking on attachments containing malware sharply increased from that time.
