VN sees rise in cyber crime

Cyber crime in Vietnam has become more sophisticated with many IT networks being targeted.
Cyber crime in Vietnam has become more sophisticated with many IT networks being targeted.

So said the director of the IT department at the Ministry of PublicSecurity, Nguyen Viet The, during the two-day Cloud Computing andSecurity World 2012 conference that concluded on Mar. 23 in Hanoi.

He said that last year saw an unprecedented rise insecurity attacks. He blamed the increase in cyber crime on the growth of3G technology, which made it possible to surf the net via a mobilephone.

He said he expects cyber attacks to increase again this year because of the added risk posed by smart phone.

In Vietnam , thousands of websites were attacked by foreign hackersin 2011. In May and June last year, 329 websites with domains gov.vnwere attached, while on October 23, 2011 alone, 150 websites wereattacked.

The said organisations need to improve website administration to deter attacks.

He also said cyber criminals have been exploiting social networkssites such as Facebook and Twitter to access confidential information.

Consolidating technological infrastructure withmodern e-channel services not only enables enterprises to cut down onoperational costs, improve storage performance and data storage ratesbut also helps reduce work pressure and enhance an organisation'sadministrative ability, the conference heard.

However, information security remains a serious concern for many governmental offices and enterprises.

It is estimated that 64.2 million computers in Vietnam wereinfected with viruses in 2011 – an average of 175,000 per day.Meanwhile, 2,245 websites belonging to Government offices andenterprises in Vietnam were attacked last year, equal to 187 permonth.

According to Symantec, an antivirus softwaremanufacturer, Vietnam ranked 12th in terms of malware (malicioussoftware) and 10th in terms of spam among 86 countries it has looked at.Meanwhile, Symantec's findings also showed that 54 percent of CEOs werehesitant to use cloud computing technology, while 89 percent ofexamined enterprises said that reliability and security were their mainconcerns when considering replacing their current technological systemswith cloud computing.

Vu Quoc Khanh, the directorof the Vietnam Computer Emergency Response Team (VNCERT), said thatalthough information security in Vietnam has improved, it is stillnot strong enough. Meanwhile, hackers often use new methods and advancedtechniques to attack websites.

He said theMinistry of Information and Communications has often conducted monthlymeetings with relevant agencies to discuss network security. However,Vietnam needs to establish an ad hoc committee to tackle cyber crime,he added.

This was the first year the CloudComputing Conference and Exhibition was held. It is expected that itwill become a regular event.-VNA

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