Cybersecurity: Core of Digital Transformation

Digital trust is the foundation for socio-economic activity. Building digital trust is key to successful digital transformation. This will be a huge challenge for Vietnam as well as other countries around the world.

Heightened risks in the digital environment

The COVID-19 pandemic rocked all economies across the globe. Many businesses and services were disrupted as people had to work from home as a result of social distancing. Many businesses, especially SMEs, had to shift to work online from home and immediately set up remote working solutions for employees.

Mr. Sam Cheng Qingjun, Director of Public & Government Affairs, Huawei, said, the global impact of COVID-19 is a testament to the importance of having strong, secure and stable telecommunications networks for the digital economy to withstand the pandemic. However, security risks are a concern today.

In 2020, the world witnessed a new record of security vulnerabilities and cyberattacks in both occurrence and scale. Ransomware and data leaks kept turning up. According to the WHO, cyberattacks in 2020 increased fivefold over 2019, and according to a Gartner survey, 61% of technology executives said they would increase investment in networks and information security.

In Vietnam, according to Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Huy Dung, in the last two years, more online activities have been shifted to cyberspace. Every day, each Vietnamese internet user is online for nearly seven hours. This duration will continue to increase, meaning that cybersecurity risks will be higher. Global data show that 900 cyberattacks happen every second, five new malicious codes are created and 40 weaknesses and vulnerabilities are detected every day.

Vietnam ranked 25th globally on the Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) 2020, he said. This is the result of the efforts of security agencies in ensuring cybersecurity. In the coming time, the Ministry of Information and Communications will disseminate basic cybersecurity campaigns for people, provide information security services and applications on mobile platforms. The recent launch of the internet security application Visafe is just the opening.

Eight specific goals to improve Vietnam's global rankings

With respect to information security, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Phuc, Director of the Authority of Information Security under the Ministry of Information and Communications, said that Vietnam’s GCI 2020 standing will be a challenge for it to keep this position and build digital trust in the years to come as it is forecast that every second will witness 3,000 cyberattacks and 12 new malicious codes by 2025, an increase of 3 times and 2.4 times over 2020, respectively. New vulnerabilities and weaknesses appearing every day will climb to about 70 in 2025, an increase of 1.75 times over 2020.

The authority put forth eight specific goals to create digital trust and improve Vietnam's global rankings: Maintaining the 25th place on the GCI rankings, aiming for 20th place; each citizen has a "guarding knight"; each agency, organization or enterprise has a professional protection body; all ministerial agencies and People's Committees ensure information security with four layers; protecting information infrastructure in 11 important sectors such as banking, finance and transportation. Other goals include: all users have access, raise awareness and improve information security skills to create digital trust and keep Vietnam's cyberspace secure and healthy; negative information is kept below 10%; and all digital platforms comply with the law.

The Authority of Information Security also proposed very specific solutions for 2021-2022: Cyberspace is for all and no one is left behind; Vietnam’s GCI rankings are maintained and elevated; all digital platforms comply with legal regulations; negative information is kept below 10%; all digital platforms comply with privacy regulations; and “Made in Vietnam” platforms are developed for over 10 million users.

Ha Linh (Vietnam Business Forum)