A press conference held to announce the Conference and Exhibition on Information Security in the South 2024 to be held in HCM City on August 23. — Photo sggp.org.vn

HCM CITY — The Conference and Exhibition on Information Security in the South 2024 will be held in HCM City on August 23.

The event is planned to take place at the GEM Centre in District 1. It is organised by the Authority of Information Security under the Ministry of Information and Communications, the City’s Department of Information and Communications, and the southern branch of Vietnam Information Security Association (VNISA).

It aims to provide necessary updates in IT and information safety to state agencies, businesses, and organisations located in the southern region, including HCM City, which is carrying out its own digital transformation process.

Information technology has surged this year, with the proliferation of artificial intelligence, Internet of Things (IoT), and 5G applications.

However, these advancements have also brought unprecedented cybersecurity challenges. Cyberattacks have become increasingly cunning, targeting critical infrastructure, personal sensitive data, and corporate databases.

During the first half of this year, a series of ransomware attacks targeted large enterprises in Việt Nam, crippling systems, disrupting operations, and causing substantial financial losses.

Many businesses were forced to pay hefty ransoms to recover their data and restore their systems, leading to loss of customer and partner trust.

The damages extended beyond economic losses, impacting the reputation and competitiveness of Vietnamese businesses in the global market.

Therefore, this upcoming event will discuss hot topics such as cybersecurity in cashless transactions, protecting information technology systems that support HCM City’s digital transformation, the role of artificial intelligence and machine learning in enhancing traditional cybersecurity solutions, and authentication in an era of advanced hacking techniques.

It will also feature a series of cybersecurity activities, including a conference for government officials and business leaders, a scientific seminar on cybersecurity, a drill on HCM City cybersecurity, and the ASEAN Student Contest on Information Security 2024.

Ngô Vi Đồng, chairman of the southern branch of VNISA, said the shift to digital platforms and applications has constantly exposed organisations to significant cybersecurity risks.

Vietnamese organisations, particularly those controlling shared databases, are vulnerable to cyberattacks anytime, and the numerous ransomware attacks in HCM City in 2024 have highlighted the severity of this threat, he said.

A survey conducted by the southern branch of VNISA revealed that in 2024, many organisations and businesses have outsourced cybersecurity monitoring services to optimise costs, an increase from 20 per cent to more than 50 per cent compared to 2023.

Data backup to prevent ransomware attacks is an effective measure, yet 59 per cent of organisations have not implemented or prioritised backing up critical data.

About 61 per cent of organisations have adopted cybersecurity measures to mitigate the impact of attacks, while 13 per cent are interested but lack the necessary information and resources. — VNS