Hackers increase attacks on Vietnam's key network systems

The Vietnam National Cyber ​​Security Association said that the application of technology in business operations and production has brought many values, but has also become the top target of international and domestic hacker groups. The nature and scale of attacks are increasingly large, targeting important agencies and businesses such as electricity, banking, securities, payment intermediaries, telecommunications, oil and gas and healthcare.

Meanwhile, according to the Department of Cyber ​​Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention (A05), the methods of criminal groups have become more sophisticated and the attack scenarios have many similarities. Hacks can disrupt all operations and transactions and make it difficult to recover sensitive data that has fallen into the hands of hackers. This is important data that is decisive in the organization's operations.

Department A05 warned that in the coming time, hacker groups will continue to attack with ransomware, targeting economic, financial and energy agencies and organizations. Hacking incidents will become more complicated, and it is not impossible that malware has been deeply embedded in information systems for a long time.

The Association identifies one of the weaknesses of most information systems as limited awareness of the role and importance of ensuring network safety and security, and low response capacity and ability to handle and fix incidents. Many important information technology systems are currently not invested in synchronously, are not monitored and periodically inspected, and have technical weaknesses and security vulnerabilities.

Accordingly, the association recommends that organizations and businesses immediately review and re-evaluate their systems, promptly notify authorities such as Department A05 - Ministry of Public Security, Department of Information Security - Ministry of Information and Communications when incidents occur. Organizations are also urged not to pay ransom to hackers, to avoid setting a bad precedent.

Previously, on March 24, VNDirect Securities Company was attacked by an international organization that encrypted data, forcing it to stop operating for several days. On April 2, Vietnam Oil Corporation PVOIL announced that its data had been encrypted, causing its information technology system to stall.