Illustrative image (Source: businessinsider.com) Can Tho (VNA) – A workshop tookplace in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho on August 23 to discuss ways toensure cyber security is maintained for governmental organisations.
The event was co-held by the Authority ofInformation Security (AIS) and the municipal Department of Information andCommunications to provide governmental agencies with guidelines on how toassess levels of information security, monitor threats, and find solutions toimprove malware prevention and protect e-Government databases.
According to Director of the Can ThoDepartment of Information and Communications Do Hoang Trung, the number ofcases of malware penetrating computer systems and causing data destruction inVietnam rose by 8 percent year-on-year during the first eight months of 2018.
Most cities and provinces nationwide arebuilding e-Government systems based on advances in information technology, saidAIS Director Nguyen Thanh Hai. It brings many benefits but, at the same time,its side effects can be very serious if cyber security is not ensured, henoted.
The consequences would be devastating ifpersonal information or accounts of bank users are stolen, or if the documentsof a provincial People’s Committee are changed, Hai warned. Therefore, thedevelopment of e-Government systems should be parallel with activities toensure system security, which must involve not only the management of ITspecialists, but also improving the IT knowledge of governmental staff.
Nguyen Huu Nguyen from the Vietnam ComputerEmergency Response Team suggested that governmental organisations ensure cybersecurity is maintained by enhancing management in five key areas – namely generalpolicies for administrators and users, human resources, the design anddevelopment of an information system before it is put into use, operationmanagement, and risk assessment and management.
TheVNCERT reported that last year, Vietnam was hit by 13,382 cyber attacks, including6,400 malware; 4,377 deface; and 2,605 phishing attacks. As many as 5,179 cyberattacks have been recorded since the beginning of 2018, consisting of 1,122phishing; 3,200 deface; and 857 malware attacks.–VNA
