About 10,000 computer users in Vietnam are using unsafe operating systems, and nearly 3,000 internet protocol (IP) addresses have been linked with data leaks, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said on September 26.

Information security on smart devices is a global critical matter as there are more and more people using these devices for their daily operations.

With digital transformation being accelerated among government agencies and the business community, domestic and international providers of information security solutions are betting on new products and plans in Vietnam.

Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Huy Dung stressed that ensuring information security for digital platforms must be considered the key task, inseparable from the digital transformation process.

According to the latest report of the Government Committee on Cipher and authorities, Vietnam’s information security has developed complicatedly.

Viettel Cyber Security Company has issued a report on Vietnam’s information security situation in the first six months of 2021.

The 23-member executive board of a project on training and developing human resources for information security for the 2021 - 2025 period has been established, led by Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Huy Dung.

Vietnam jumped to the 25th place amongst 194 countries and territories in the 2020 Global Cybersecurity Index, which was recently unveiled by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

Affirming that there has been no sign of massive cyberattacks on many newspapers, the Authority of Information Security said it would soon issue a procedure for quickly responding to cyberattacks on press agencies.

Privacy is an interesting topic of discussion in Vietnam. It has been influenced by village culture, an important component of the Vietnamese cultural identity.

Of nearly 1 million cyber-attacks on critical IT systems handled annually by the Network Information Security Center of the Government Cipher Committee, attacks that exploited vulnerability accounted for more than 87%.

From late 2020 to the end of February 2021, the number of Vietnam’s IP addresses in botnets decreased by another 1 million to 917,492.

The move by Vietnam's Ministry of Public Security is essential as it is the personal information protection that shows respect for the right of each person.

Still coping with difficulties caused by Covid-19, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) also face risks in information and data security in 2021.

The demand for making transactions, payment and giving lucky money online has soared these days, giving hackers opportunities to increase their phishing activities.

Not only facing difficulties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam will also face many information safety and data security risks this year.

As many as 5,168 cyber-attacks were recorded on information systems in Vietnam in 2020, a year-on-year decline of 0.15 percent, according to the Ministry of Information and Communications’ National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).

ASEAN+3 must work together to complete a legal framework for cyber security, looking towards building common ASEAN rules and standards for information security based on voluntary codes of conduct, said Deputy Minister of Public Security Bui Van Nam.

The new regulation that clients’ information will be shared by 30 commercial banks with taxation bodies has stirred up the public. People fear that their bank account information may be leaked.