VietNamNet Bridge – Most local mobile phone services providers are using products of Chinese equipment manufacturers Huwei and ZTE that have caused the United States and Europe to worry about information security.

A recent report of the Vietnam Information Security Association (Vnisa) shows that six out of seven telecom companies in Vietnam have been using technology and equipment provided by Huwei and ZTE over the last one year. Over 30,000 base transceiver stations in use nationwide use components of the two technology giants.

In 2009 alone, more than five million devices such as USB, modems, and routers of Huwei and ZTE were sold in the Vietnamese market. The association, however, has no figures of the two companies’ sales in the first six months of the year.

Trinh Ngoc Minh, vice chairman of the southern division of Vnisa, noted this is a concern over security and safety for the local telecom industry.

“Our Internet and telecom devices are all imported now. We have no other choice but to trust the suppliers who pledge that their devices are free from malware,” Minh said.

Other information security experts said they are less confident in the two Chinese producers as several nations like the U.S. and Australia, and the European Union have cast doubt on their commitments.

As per Vnisa’s report, the number of crimes sabotaging the operations of enterprises and organizations has been rising vigorously in Vietnam in the past one year. Most Internet hackers steal credit card information and commit fraud via e-commerce and e-payment activities, says the report.

They also take advantage of loopholes of cloud computing and mobile security applications. One of the most popular tricks is to produce fake websites specializing in phone card sales, online games and e-commerce to steal passwords and bank accounts.

In the first six months, 2,638 new viruses were detected as they attacked around 4.3 million computers in Vietnam, causing damages worth an estimated VND8 trillion.

About 425 websites of local enterprises and organizations were hacked in the period.

What is more, the servers of many local ministries and agencies were also attacked, with 395 servers regularly accessed by overseas hackers to get confidential information.

Source: SGT