Of the total, 553 were phishing, 280 were defacement, and 223 were malware attacks, according to the Authority of Information Security at the Ministry of Information and Communications.

In April, 203 attacks caused problems for information systems in the country, down 28 percent against March and 68.2 percent year-on-year. These consisted of 43 phishing, 89 defacement, and 71 malware attacks.

The Authority partly attributed the sharp decline to greater public awareness about the issue, as more agencies, organisations, and internet users have equipped themselves with standard information security solutions.

Better legal regulations, stronger coordination between major internet organisations and Vietnam, and more support programmes and policies in information security also count among the reasons, it noted.

In the Global Cybersecurity Index 2018 released last year, the International Telecommunications Union put Vietnam in 50th place among 175 countries and territories, up 50 places from the previous year. The country was therefore classified as one demonstrating a high commitment to all five pillars of the index./.VNA