Vietnam faces loose network security, data protection
HANOI - Delegates to the international conference and showcase entitled Security World 2008 which started here Wednesday said organizations and individuals in Vietnam have yet to invest enough in or to have full awareness about network security and data protection.
"The risk of data and network security breaches is at an alarming rate. According to reports of BKIS (a leading local network security center in Vietnam) and VNCERT (Vietnam Computer Emergency Response Team under the country's Ministry of Information and Communications, in 2007, some 25 percent of major Vietnamese websites are vulnerable to hackers' attacks, and 95 percent of personal computers were infected with viruses," Dang Van Hieu, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Public Security, said at the two-day event.
Nguyen Viet The, an official from the Public Security Ministry' s General Department of Technology, said: "Last year, we surveyed and detected security holes in 140 websites of important agencies and enterprises in Vietnam. More seriously, some websites with domain "gov.vn" were attached malicious codes by foreign hackers. If this situation continue, it is possible that national security and social order will be affected."
According to BKIS surveys, last year, 342 Vietnamese websites were attacked by hackers, of which 224 websites were hacked by foreigners. Meanwhile, over 33.6 million computers were infected with viruses, causing estimated losses of 2.4 trillion Vietnamese dong (150 million U.S. dollars). Some 40 percent of Vietnamese stock brokerage websites are still vulnerable to attacks from hackers, despite efforts to improve network security, according to a recent BKIS survey.
"In March 2007, we warned of errors in 12 out of 22 stock brokerage websites which could be used by hackers to take control of or manipulate data and transactions. In late 2007, we still found errors in 40 percent of a total of 60 securities websites," said BKIS director Nguyen Tu Quang.
Nguyen Viet The said key reasons for the loose network security and data protection in Vietnam include limited spending on information technology, especially security issues of local organizations, shortage of legal documents on handling cyber- crimes, and poor awareness of Internet users about security threats.
Elaine Lee, market analyst of International Data Corporation, stated at the conference: "Many organizations often don't know which technologies to buy, so they buy too much or not enough, but don't usually get what they need." They need integrated solutions for anti-virus, anti-spam, anti-spyware, outbound filtering and email encryption to cut cost and save time, she said.
During the two-day event themed "Strengthening Security Awareness and Deployment" and held by the General Department of Technology and the International Data Group, 30 speakers from Vietnamese ministries and organizations, and such foreign firms as Cisco Systems and Symantec are to touch current status and trends of, and solutions to network and data security in the Asia-Pacific region in general and Vietnam in particular.
Over 500 delegates and nearly 2,000 visitors are attending Security World 2008, the organizers estimated.
Xinhua - March 19, 2008.
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