With 7,000 illegal websites prevented from operating recently, the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) estimates that about 7.7 million people, or 10 percent of Vietnamese internet users, have been protected against online phishing attacks and violations of the law in cyberspace.

The legal framework on cybersecurity is completed and now applied in practice. The image of national cybersecurity and safety in recent years has improved significantly with Vietnam appreciated by prestigious international organizations.

Vietnam’s GCI (Global Cybersecurity Index) increased from 100 to 50 in the last three consecutive reviews of the International Telecommunication Union. Vietnam now ranks 25th among 194 countries and territories.

The ecosystem of safe products and cybersecurity have been promoted. To date, Vietnamese enterprises have mastered 22 of 23 groups of products (95 percent).

“In ensuring safety and cybersecurity, self-reliance in technology plays a very important role. This has been done well by domestic information security firms,” Khoa said. 

As for the cybersecurity of state’s agencies and organizations, 100 percent of ministries, branches and localities have deployed the 4-layer information security model. Of the over 3,000 information systems of state agencies, 63 percent have had their safety records approved in accordance to level.

AIS, in order to prevent and handle online scams, said the most important thing is heightening people’s awareness of cybersecurity, so that people and businesses do not contact toxic information sources. 

With that point of view, MIC has instructed enterprises and relevant agencies to block nearly 7,000 websites that violate laws, including over 2,000 phishing ones.

AIS estimated that with the action, about 7.7 million people, or 10 percent of internet users in Vietnam, have been protected against online phishing attacks and law infringement on cyberspace.

According to the Ministry of Public Security, in the last five years, the ministry has discovered 2,300 cases, prosecuted 1,100 cases with 1,000 subjects, and imposed administrative fines on violators in 51 cases of swindling to appropriate assets via cyberspace.

“Ensuring cybersecurity has made an important contribution to protecting the national digital sovereignty, the Party ideological foundation, and the Vietnamese people and the country’s images,” AIS commented.

However, Khoa admitted that problems still exist. Thirty-eight percent of the information system is not protected in accordance to level. 

Deputy chair of the Vietnam Information Security Association Khong Huy Hung warned of two major risks. First, problems exist in systems for a long time, but they have not been detected. Second, the risk of attacking the government’s systems even exceeds the attacks on the finance and banking sector.

Van Anh