The Việt Nam Cyber Security under Authority of Information Security (AIS), Ministry of Information and Communications has developed an online tool to check email security.— Photo thuongtruong.com.vn

HÀ NỘI — The Việt Nam Cyber Security under Authority of Information Security (AIS), Ministry of Information and Communications has developed an online tool to check email security.

To know if an email password is leaked or stolen on the internet, a user can access https://khonggianmang.vn/, type an email address and click “search”. A notification mail then will be sent to the inbox. If it notifies that the email password has been exposed, it should be changed to a new one.

According to AIS, a 41-gigabite file containing about 1.4 billion usernames and password combinations was recently found on the Dark Web, a huge data breach related to email accounts.  

Leaked credentials include 473,770 Vietnamese email accounts (using the domain of “.vn”) in which there are 1,056 accounts with the governmental domain of “.gov.vn” and 806 accounts belonging to banks.

AIS said these emails might have been used to register on social networks, bank accounts and online services. Therefore, they are at high risk of cyber attack.

Việt Nam Computer Emergency Response Team (VNCERT) warned internet users to check their email security, change passwords and not to use public email accounts for private purposes.

Nguyễn Khắc Lịch, deputy director of VNCERT, said a data breach would allow cyber criminals to use leaked email accounts to log into different information systems as people tend to re-use their passwords. If successful, they can usurp those accounts and use them to attack, hack and destroy cyber systems. — VNS