To mitigate the risks of cyber attacks and ensure greater protection of citizens and organisations, Vietnam is taking measures to secure corporate data and enhance overall cybersecurity.
Deputy Minister, Ministry of Information and Communications, Nguyen Huy Dung has been quoted as saying, ‘With more than 900 cyberattacks and 5 malicious codes generated every second, 40 vulnerabilities detected every day, we are facing severe cyber threats that could grow sharply in the near future. Our top priority nowadays is to strengthen cyber security for state agencies, organisations, and individuals towards a more resilient future together.’
According to the Government Information Security Commission, in 2021, more than 45,000 out of 76,977 cyber attacks on some key network systems were carried out in the form of exploiting vulnerabilities. There were about 14,000 network scanning attacks, more than 12,000 targeted attacks, more than 7,300 authentication attacks, nearly 7,000 malware attacks, and about 650 denial-of-service attacks.
In order to ensure information security in the future, Pham Minh Tuan, deputy head of the Cyber Security Assessment section under the Government Information Security Commission’s Centre for Information Technology and Cyber Security Monitoring, underlined that it is necessary to focus on ensuring the security of critical information at each level of the information system.
According to VINSA, there have been over 5400 cyber attacks on Vietnamese systems in the first five months of this year alone. Of these, approximately 68% were malicious attacks. This is raising the levels of vigilance and overall improvement in cyber security.
Vietnam is seeing some success in managing cyber threats, May showed a decrease in the number of cyber incidents. Similarly, after the Ministry of Information and Communications issued a warning, incidents were down 9.37% in April as compared to March 2022. Socio-economic stability and resumption of more economic activities initiated around the Party’s solutions and guidelines are behind this decline, according to the Information Security Department, Ministry of Information and Communications
In addition, the government has been proactive in raising vigilance, strengthening cyber information security as well as security and social order. This has made it difficult for bad actors to attack networks, spread infecting malicious code and run scams to steal and destroy information of users and organisations.
To ensure information security for information systems and Vietnam’s cyberspace, the Ministry of Information and Communications will continue to strengthen monitoring and proactive scanning; it will evaluate statistics and promote propaganda and issue warning in the mass media so that users know and avoid the risk of cyber attacks.
The Ministry of Information and Communications will address the situation by strengthening mechanisms for monitoring and proactive scanning, raising public awareness and providing advance warnings of expected cyberattacks. Simultaneously, the Ministry will continue to urge the review of vulnerabilities and communicate signs of cyberattacks.
This sector is vital to the country as OpenGov Asia reported that Vietnam’s digital economy revenue reached US$ 53 billion in the first quarter of this year. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, who is the head of the National Committee on Digital Transformation, said that digital transformation is a driving force for innovation and the foundation for a modern economy.
He pointed out several tasks that the committee must focus on, including developing digital transformation infrastructure, applying digital technology, mobilising resources through public-private cooperation, and improving the management capacity and quality of human resources. Creating a robust digital society is expected to make people happier, participate in more comprehensive social activities, and enjoy more favourable social security policies, contributing to making Vietnam a safe, secure, and connected country
