Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Vietnamese computer users suffered a record 14.9trillion VND (637.6 million USD) in damage from viruses this year, an increaseof 21 percent from 2017, according to a cyber security assessment reportreleased by Bkav Technology Group this week.
The report revealed more than 60 percent of agencies and businesses in Vietnam areinfected with malicious code from bitcoin miners, causing security breaches andloss of information.
According to Bkav experts, the high level of infection was because businessesand agencies do not have adequate anti-virus software.
“If just one computer in the network is infected with malicious code, all othercomputers on the same network will be attacked and infected,” the report quotedBkav experts as saying.
“The bitcoin miners’ malicious code will not only slow down computers, but alsoupdate and download more malicious codes to delete data, steal personalinformation or even carry out advanced persistent threat (APT) attacks.”
According to Bkav’s virus monitoring system, more than 1.6 million PCs in thecountry lost data in 2018.
Almost half of users participating in the network security assessment programmesaid they had lost data this year.
Bkav said there were two common lines of malicious code in Vietnam causing dataloss, including an encrypted ransomware virus and a virus that can wipe alldata on the users’ USB drive.
“The encrypted ransomware virus mainly goes through email,” experts said.
“About 74 percent of users in Vietnam still have the habit of opening fileattachments directly from email without opening it through Bkav Safe Run, whichis a technology that helps prevent malicious code from entering the computer ifusers accidentally download it from the internet.”
“USB is the most popular means of data exchange in Vietnam, so the number ofcomputers infected via USB is always high. Bkav statistics show up to 77 percentof USB drives in Vietnam are infected at least once a year,” the experts added.
This year, a trend also emerged in which people stole Facebook accounts throughcomments.
Bkav research showed more than 83 per cent of users on the social network haveencountered these malicious comments.
The experts said hackers create fake Facebook accounts with photos of beautifulwomen as the avatars. They write inviting comments on the site asking people tochat with them. If someone clicks on the page of one of these trap accounts,the victim may be cheated into losing his or her account.
“As a precaution, users should not click links from untrustworthy users. Evenif the link is sent from a friend, the user should actively check theinformation before clicking,” the experts added.
In 2017 and 2018, the number of security vulnerabilities in software andapplications has skyrocketed to more than 15,700 vulnerabilities, about 2.5times higher than the previous year. In particular, serious vulnerabilitiesappeared on popular software such as Adobe Flash Player, Microsoft Windows andin many CPU lines of Intel, Apple and AMD.
Although security patches were announced by producers quickly aftervulnerabilities appeared, updates to the patch were not quick enough.
For example, take the SMB flaws that exposed users to ransomware attacks. Aftertwo years more than 50 percent of computers in Vietnam still have not patchedthis vulnerability.
This was exploited by the WannaCry ransomeware code, which infected more than300,000 computers worldwide in several hours. The patch, which was not updatedin time, enabled hackers to exploit vulnerabilities to attack the network toinstall viruses and spyware.
In the report, Bkav experts recommended that besides overall malware solutions,agencies and businesses should equip security policy control solutions,ensuring all computers in the system are fully updated to eliminate softwarevulnerabilities and mitigate the risk of being exploited.
They also predicted that malware using artificial intelligence could appearnext year. The biggest threats to Internet users, however, come from maliciouscode that can delete data, hacking and APT attacks.-VNS/VNA
The report revealed more than 60 percent of agencies and businesses in Vietnam areinfected with malicious code from bitcoin miners, causing security breaches andloss of information.
According to Bkav experts, the high level of infection was because businessesand agencies do not have adequate anti-virus software.
“If just one computer in the network is infected with malicious code, all othercomputers on the same network will be attacked and infected,” the report quotedBkav experts as saying.
“The bitcoin miners’ malicious code will not only slow down computers, but alsoupdate and download more malicious codes to delete data, steal personalinformation or even carry out advanced persistent threat (APT) attacks.”
According to Bkav’s virus monitoring system, more than 1.6 million PCs in thecountry lost data in 2018.
Almost half of users participating in the network security assessment programmesaid they had lost data this year.
Bkav said there were two common lines of malicious code in Vietnam causing dataloss, including an encrypted ransomware virus and a virus that can wipe alldata on the users’ USB drive.
“The encrypted ransomware virus mainly goes through email,” experts said.
“About 74 percent of users in Vietnam still have the habit of opening fileattachments directly from email without opening it through Bkav Safe Run, whichis a technology that helps prevent malicious code from entering the computer ifusers accidentally download it from the internet.”
“USB is the most popular means of data exchange in Vietnam, so the number ofcomputers infected via USB is always high. Bkav statistics show up to 77 percentof USB drives in Vietnam are infected at least once a year,” the experts added.
This year, a trend also emerged in which people stole Facebook accounts throughcomments.
Bkav research showed more than 83 per cent of users on the social network haveencountered these malicious comments.
The experts said hackers create fake Facebook accounts with photos of beautifulwomen as the avatars. They write inviting comments on the site asking people tochat with them. If someone clicks on the page of one of these trap accounts,the victim may be cheated into losing his or her account.
“As a precaution, users should not click links from untrustworthy users. Evenif the link is sent from a friend, the user should actively check theinformation before clicking,” the experts added.
In 2017 and 2018, the number of security vulnerabilities in software andapplications has skyrocketed to more than 15,700 vulnerabilities, about 2.5times higher than the previous year. In particular, serious vulnerabilitiesappeared on popular software such as Adobe Flash Player, Microsoft Windows andin many CPU lines of Intel, Apple and AMD.
Although security patches were announced by producers quickly aftervulnerabilities appeared, updates to the patch were not quick enough.
For example, take the SMB flaws that exposed users to ransomware attacks. Aftertwo years more than 50 percent of computers in Vietnam still have not patchedthis vulnerability.
This was exploited by the WannaCry ransomeware code, which infected more than300,000 computers worldwide in several hours. The patch, which was not updatedin time, enabled hackers to exploit vulnerabilities to attack the network toinstall viruses and spyware.
In the report, Bkav experts recommended that besides overall malware solutions,agencies and businesses should equip security policy control solutions,ensuring all computers in the system are fully updated to eliminate softwarevulnerabilities and mitigate the risk of being exploited.
They also predicted that malware using artificial intelligence could appearnext year. The biggest threats to Internet users, however, come from maliciouscode that can delete data, hacking and APT attacks.-VNS/VNA
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