Vietnam was the host country for 14 countries participating in the 2015 ASEAN Computer Emergency Response Team Incident Drills (ACID) this past month. These drills were conducted to address cyber security incidence responses.
This year marked the 10th year of drills conducted by ACID and the first time that over 100 agencies took part in the exercise.
The other countries who took part in the drills included Australia, Japan, China, India, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and Myanmar.
The drills were held in three cities across Vietnam: Hà Noi, Da Nang and HCM City. It was organised by information security organisations across ASEAN and held every year.
With the help of information and technology (IT) officers, information and communications departments from over 40 cities and provinces, 24 ministerial-level agencies, and supervision of the Vietnam Computer Emergency Response Team (VNCERT), the drills were conducted with ease. The drills were held 8 hours, from which 100 Vietnamese rescue units experienced 6 situations of intense simulations.
VNCERT is responsible with assisting Vietnam organizations and internet users in implementing proactive measures to reduce the risks of computer security incidents and to assist them in responding to such incidents when they occur. They also handle incidents that originate in Vietnam networks and are reported by any Vietnam or foreign persons or institutions.
VNCERT has previously reported on more than 3 million IP addresses, infected and controlled by host computers outside of of the country. VNCERT has also found 18,085 infected websites spreading malware on the Internet. Surprisingly, this included 88 government state agency websites.
In addition, VNCERT found 5,400 phishing sites and 7,400 websites attacked for defacement.
Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hung, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications had emphasised that the participation in international drills and exercises held in Vietnam is both a technical and professional activity, but also considered a diplomatic task. He believes that countries must join hands in order to deliver greater protection against the growing threat ecosystem.
The ASEAN Economic Community is set to be established at the end of December. It is expected to organise various activities run by departments, including ACID. VNCERT continues to run information security drills throughout the region, to boost the cyber security capabilities of organisations.
