Teams participated in a cyber security exercise held simultaneously in Hà Nội, Đà Nẵng and HCM City on Wednesday with an aim to improving capacity against cyber attacks and strengthen coordination between information security units. — VNA/VNS Photo Minh Quyết

HÀ NỘI — As many as 6,219 cyber attacks have been recorded in Việt Nam since the beginning of this year, an increase of 104 per cent compared with the same period in 2018, according to Vietnam Computer Emergency Response Team (VNCERT).

Of these, there were 2,155 phishing, 3,824 deface and 240 malware attacks.
In addition, nearly 100,000 computers in the country were infected with malicious virus each day.

A cyber security exercise was held simultaneously in Hà Nội, Đà Nẵng and HCM City on Wednesday entitled “handling information leakage and investigation, determining the source of attack”.

About 300 members of national network of information security rescue or from units specialising in information security and emergency response of ministries, agencies nationwide, took part in the event.

It focused on dealing with the risk of information security threats from e-mail and vulnerable services from agencies, organisations and enterprises.

Speaking at the event, Nguyễn Thành Hưng, deputy Minister of Information and Communications, asked members to analyse and handle situations, while role-playing cyber training scenarios during the exercise.

The exercise, which was organised by the Vietnam Computer Emergency Response Center in coordination with domestic and international network security, aimed at improving capacity against cyber attacks. It also strengthened coordination between information security units for preventing network attacks by early detection.

Surveys conducted by Symantec Corporation, an American software company, revealed that 94 per cent of Vietnamese enterprises suffered from information breaches.

An attack by hacker Sogo Nakamoto at the Co-operative Bank of Vietnam (Co-op Bank) system in October last year is an example. The hacker threatened to release personal information of more than 275,000 customers unless the bank paid US$100,000.

Nguyễn Trọng Đường, Director of VNCERT, said the cause of data leakage may be due to the loose management process and inadequate security regulations.

Some employees may have violated rules, former employees stole data or the system was attacked by hackers, he said.

“In order to limit the data leakage, it was necessary to set up a confidential process, enhance discipline at units, particularly effective ways to protect the units against cyber attacks and strengthening awareness of staff about information security,” he said.

Statistics from companies specialised in IT security like Panda Security and Kaspersky showed that 230,000 new malware samples were produced and about 4,000 ransomware attacks occurred each day.

The damage of the malware attack was $1,077 on average. For every 131 emails sent worldwide, there is one email containing malware.

Technology experts said cyber attacks were changing rapidly with new, more sophisticated tactics and operating on larger-scale. — VNS