Information and cyber security in 4th Industrial Revolution

• Training course on cyber security kicks off
• Almost 7,700 cyber attacks on Vietnamese websites since January: report
• Culprits behind airport’s cyber attacks identified
• Vietnam recorded 134,000 cyber attacks in 2016

The Security World 2017 with the theme “Information and Cyber Security in the 4th Industrial Revolution” is held in Hanoi on April 4.

The event was co-organized by the Authority of Cyber Security under the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) and Department of Information Security under the Ministry of Information and Communications in association with International Data Group (IDG Vietnam), and was under the chair of the MPS, the Ministry of Information and Communications and the Vietnam Governmental Cipher Board.

Deputy Minister Bui Van Nam at the event

Senior Lieutenant General Bui Van Nam, Deputy Minister of the MPS attended and addressed the opening session of the conference.

Having been held in Vietnam for the past 10 consecutive years since 2007, the Security World Conference has gained its recognition as the most prestigious and biggest national-level forum in the country in terms of information security. The event gathers in leading cyber and information security experts as well as businesses in the sector to exchange experiences, discuss efficient solutions to cyber threats and seek partnership and cooperation.

With the main theme "Information and Cyber Security in the 4th Industrial Revolution", the workshop aims to help businesses and organizations perceive and assess current security risks as well as to propose recommendations to respond successfully to rapid developments of security risks and to promote the compliance with new security regulations.

According to an overview of the cyber security situation by the Authority of Cyber Security under the MPS, cyber attacks on critical information infrastructures are increasing in both scale and seriousness. Each year, thousands of websites are hacked and attacked, including hundreds of .gov.vn web domains of state agencies.

Lieutenant General Hoang Phuoc Thuan, Director of  the Authority of Cyber Security under the Ministry of Public Security.

In 2016 alone, up to 7,000 sites and web portals of state agencies were attacked. Many Internet-connected devices contracted malware, which are likely to be exploited or appropriated by hackers or to be used as their tools to attack networks around the world.

In particular, critical information systems of of aviation, banking and telecommunications are also at high risk of cyber attacks, say the cyber attacks on several Vietnamese airports and banks in 2016.

Meanwhile, the number of hi-tech criminals using their computers to commit offences is on the rise, and the nature of hi-tech criminal cases becomes more serious. Cases of attacking networks, stealing credit card information, appropriating assets through e-commerce activities, using internet telecommunications services and social networks to deceive, take possession of other people’s assets are getting more and more complicated by nature. Meanwhile, the telecommunications and information technology infrastructure have not yet met the essential security requirements.

The statistics provided by the Police Bureau on High-tech Crime under the MPS also show that  criminals using high technology to infringe upon Internet security and safety continuously have more sophisticated methods and tricks. Domestic criminals are connecting closely with foreign criminals to form transnational criminal organizations to commit offences in every economic sector and across the society.

Speaking at the seminar, Senior Lieutenant General Bui Van Nam, Deputy Minister of Public Security, said that the 4th industrial revolution with strong development of science and technology is expected to create great opportunities for Vietnam to accelerate IT applications, automate domestic production and business, boost connections with the rest of the world via mobile devices, and access to large databases.

Besides the benefits and opportunities, the 4th Industrial Revolution is posing security threats to Vietnam, especially when cyber attacks tend to increase in terms of both number and complexity.

Deputy Minister Nam emphasized that the crime of using high technology has now a real serious threat, which has hinted at more awareness and comprehension of cyber and information security as well as more efforts to prevent and fight cyber attacks and other hi-tech crimes.