“There have been a lot of online groups that share adult content on the Internet, especially since smart cameras became a trend every home uses, there are more groups specializing in this kind of content because many people like it," said P.N from Hanoi.

This 26-year-old man did not hesitate to share a series of tips to hunt down the latest clips, which were revealed through the surveillance camera system distributed and shared by hackers in the aforementioned groups.

“Most of these groups will charge entrance fees depending on the quality of the content, from 100,000 to 250,000 VND”, P.N revealed. Not only providing adult content, some groups also share accounts that grant access to hacked camera systems with a lifetime fee of about 3-4 million VND.

Mr. Nguyen Tuan Anh, Chairman of Lumi Vietnam Joint Stock Company, said that recently, there have been many cases of leaked footage from users’ surveillance cameras, most of which happened because of users’ fault as they did not know how to secure their information.

Usually, users hire another party to set up and configure their cameras systems, so the third party will be the one to create an account with a very simple password. Customers often start using them right away without changing the password, hence the information leaks. In addition, some cases resulted from the customer's own phone when it was brought to repair shops or transferred without deleting all information.

If you want to ensure safety for your surveillance systems, it is necessary to choose products from a big brand name that has existed on the market for some time. These companies will have a surveillance system capable of ensuring information security for customers.

Previously, a representative of the Information Security Department of the Ministry of Information and Communications said, just visit the Shodan website and try typing the keyword “cameras in Vietnam,” the results show that 1,452 cameras are being exposed online, from private homes to public places. As soon as they have your personal information, thieves can dig very deep into and exploit your private life and will cause unpredictable consequences.

Many cameras originate from China

Concerned about this issue, a representative of MobiFone said that private footage and personal information are leaked mainly through seemingly harmless items such as cameras - a device that is being used a lot in Vietnam not only by households but also the government. More than 90% of these cameras are from China and all have codes in their software to sync with the server. Therefore, the possibility of them leaking personal information to the outside is very high.

Talking about the risk of information leakage, Mr. Ngo Tuan Anh, Deputy General Director of BKAV said: "Currently, most cameras on the market come from China, so controlling information security and safety should be a matter of concern. Some cameras are even cloud-based, which means they connect to a server located in China and users in Vietnam must circle through this server before connecting to their camera".

According to Mr. Nguyen Minh Duc, CEO of Cyradar, government agencies should be more selective when using cameras, and avoid using cloud-based cameras to ensure information safety. According to Vietnam's Cybersecurity Law, it is not allowed to store user's data outside of Vietnam.

Camera will have to be made in Vietnam

Mr. Tran Quang Chien, CEO of CyStack emphasized that cameras are one of the most important devices in implementing surveillance-identification systems, smart cities, and smart homes services. It is essential that Vietnamese enterprises develop these devices with good quality and ensure safety, which will also reduce the risk of exposing sensitive data for users. However, the research and development process for these devices will take a long time.

“In the current period, I think that Vietnamese authorities should have standards and regulations to evaluate the quality and safety of suppliers of these camera equipment, not only from China but also suppliers from other countries. Especially the equipment used in security monitoring systems, information collection of state agencies and important systems," said Chien.

Mr. Nguyen Tuan Anh, Chairman of Lumi Vietnam, said that for Vietnamese brands, if they research and invest in product development themselves, they are definitely aiming to ensure safety and security for customers.

Agreeing with this point of view, Mr. Nguyen Anh Phan, Head of Incident Monitoring and Handling Department, said BKAV Company offered a view that to ensure absolute national security for the government and key industries, using “made in Vietnam” products is very necessary in helping us to be proactive in controlling and keeping our information secured.

“I highly appreciate the talent and intelligence of human resources in Vietnam, we can definitely make high-tech products just as good as other countries in the world. Currently, Vietnam has been able to produce security cameras integrated with artificial intelligence and export them to the US, the most demanding market in terms of technology. That alone has proved the capability of the Vietnamese technology industry,” said Mr. Nguyen Anh Phan.

According to many experts, the trend of using cameras is becoming increasingly popular. It is an important component in e-Government systems, digital government and smart cities, helping to monitor traffic, security and order. Therefore, the production of cameras is an urgent need to ensure information safety and security for Vietnam.

Thai Khang – Luu Diep

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