Cisco has just announced the study "Cybersecurity for SMEs: Asia Pacific Businesses Prepare for Digital Defense".

Accordingly, 59% of small and medium enterprises in Vietnam experienced network problems in the past 12 months. As many as 86% of businesses lost customer information to hackers in cyberattacks.

This situation makes small and medium enterprises more concerned about cybersecurity risks. Up to 71% of businesses said they were more insecure about cybersecurity than they were last year, and 67% felt threatened by cybersecurity threats. The research shows that businesses are taking many strategic measures such as conducting simulation campaigns to improve their cybersecurity.

Cisco said that cyberattacks with malicious code and malware are the most common form, affecting 89% of small and medium enterprises in Vietnam.

These incidents are having a significant impact on the business situation. Thirty percent of businesses affected by cyberattacks said they lost about $500,000 or more, of which 4% said the loss could be more than $1 million.

Around 39% of small and medium-sized enterprises in Vietnam who have experienced cyberattacks emphasized that cybersecurity solutions that are not strong enough to detect or prevent the attack is the top cause of these incidents. Meanwhile, 32% cited the lack of cybersecurity solutions as the main reason.

General Director of Cisco Vietnam Luong Thi Le Thuy explained small and medium enterprises have accelerated the pace of digitization in the past 18 months. This process motivates businesses with special needs to invest in solutions and capabilities that help them protect themselves on the cybersecurity front.

Faced with the cybersecurity challenge, SMEs in Vietnam are planning to approach to understand and improve their cybersecurity posture through a number of strategic initiatives. Cisco research indicates that 88% of SMEs have completed scripting and/or simulating potential cybersecurity incidents in the past 12 months, with the majority having a response and recovery plan in place.

The good news is that SMEs are investing more in cybersecurity. Around 87% of Vietnam's SMEs have increased investment in cybersecurity since the Covid-19 pandemic began, with 39% of enterprises increasing investments by more than 5%.

Investments are evenly distributed across areas such as cybersecurity, compliance or monitoring, human resources, training, and insurance that demonstrate an understanding of the need for an integrated and multi-dimensional approach in building a solid cyberspace posture.

Duy Vu

Cyberattacks on Vietnam decline, but become more sophisticated

According to the Information Security Agency of the Ministry of Information and Communications, the number of cyber-attacks on Vietnam decreased in the first half of 2021, but the level of sophistication and damage was much greater.