VietNamNet reporters visited CyRadar’s CEO at its head office in the FPT Tower in Hanoi to ask about the young security firm's accomplishments.

In 2013, when working as a senior executive at a well-known security firm, Nguyen Minh Duc left for FPT, where he led a research team specializing in developing securityCyRadar, security firm,  technologies.

"If cyberattacks to large enterprises had been discovered earlier, the risks would have been mitigated. Our team decided to develop a solution that allows us to discover cyberattacks early.

"At first, we intended to develop a solution only. But in 2017, we decided to set up a CyRadar company when conditions were ripe. The name ‘CyRadar’ is a combination of two words – ‘Cy’ which means ‘Cyber’ and ‘Radar’ which means scanning on cyberspace to discover attacks,” Duc said.

The advantage of CyRadar is that the firm had two years with FPT when it focused on research and development, and did not feel business pressure to seek clients. 

Thanks to this, the security firm earned many prestigious international certificates which gave it advantages and allowed it to win confidence when working with international partners.

Regarding anti-malware software alone, the firm has 10 certificates, including VB100.

“The international certificates also allow us to share resources with big companies around the world,” Duc said. “Now CyRadar is a security firm that has very rich data, among firms with the most data in Vietnam."

At least two clients decided to work with the company because CyRadar is one of the firms with the highest volume of data.

One of the clients is an email security system development company in Asia. After analyzing domain names in attacks on its clients, it found that CyRadar was one of the security firms that detected problems at an early stage. The company contacted CyRadar via email and suggested cooperation by sharing resources.

CyRadar was added by Microsoft to a list of 15 firms it recommended to use.

“This is the most difficult thing we have done. The other 14 firms are all ‘very big guys’, including one with 30 years of experience, well known all over the world,” Duc said. “This could be a favorable foundation for CyRadar to expand its operation in the international market."

CyRadar had to spend nearly two years on this. The first step was becoming a member of Microsoft Virus Initiative, which includes firms specializing in anti-virus software. After that, it had to work to satisfy more criteria and requirements.

At first, Microsoft's list consisted of 40 names, but later the number of firms was cut to 15, and the list is reviewed every year.

There is no other Vietnamese name on Microsoft's list, though there are many other firms specializing in developing anti-virus software.

Challenges

CyRadar received support from FPT in the first two years, which allowed it to develop solutions and services, with no need to worry about making money.

However, this did not mean that everything went smoothly. The young CEO sometimes faced headaches about doing business to ensure income for dozens of staff.

The biggest challenge was the stiff competition in the information security market. Though awareness of information security at domestic organizations and businesses has improved, the annual budget for information security remains modest and businesses mostly spend money to buy foreign equipment.

In general, Vietnam-made solutions and software find it difficult to compete with foreign products right in the home market. Vietnamese firms only have advantages over foreign rivals in providing solutions in the government sector with strict requirements on suppliers. Also, Vietnamese companies can be more active and flexible in developing solutions as per the requirements by the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) and state agencies.

Another difficulty, according to Duc, is the workforce. “We need the workers with deep knowledge. Banks and large institutions can offer very high pay to attract excellent workers. Therefore, it is very difficult to recruit and retain workers,” he said.

Seeking clients is a big challenge for startups. Having clients means having money. Many startups die young just because they don’t have money to continue running.

Binh Minh