Vietnam Standing High Among Leading Spam Sources

On November 18, 2008, the Vietnam Information Security Association (VNISA) revealed that Vietnam, popular as a foremost Information and Communications Technology (ICT) nation, is also among the top five countries of the world which are responsible for spreading the majority of global spam. The other nations are China, South Korea, US and Thailand.

As per the security experts, in recent years, the volume of PCs infested by virus has risen considerably. VNISA stated that in 2008, a minimum of 40 crimes related to data security have been reported, resulting in the loss of several billions of Dong.

The firms in southern Vietnam are believed to possess lower standards of information security and thus, they are highly susceptible to the hacking attacks. Also, several users are underrating the significance of protecting the information to combat the cyber crime and resultantly, they are not taking necessary precautionary steps.

Additionally, a survey conducted by VNISA on November 18, 2008 disclosed that about 70% of the firms were found away from the security of firewalls, 85% were not having any policy for information security and 55% of them were not even able to detect the attacks. Merely 10 businesses revealed that they want to bring their network failures to the notice of concerned authorities while the rest were afraid of losing their reputation.

According to the security experts, the above figures are indicating lapses in the information security in the country. Capitalizing on the inability of the websites to prevent the attacks, cyber criminals are targeting several companies and government websites.

However, 74% of the companies in the survey stated that they are planning to invest increasingly in the information security, raising hopes for future.

Revealing some necessary factors for ensuring a safe and secure information system, IT experts said that the server should be positioned in a network system that offers protection at various levels and should be controlled by specific network security devices such as Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS) and firewalls. Further, the operating systems and application software such as mail servers and web servers should be updated regularly.

Related article: Vietnam – Nearly 4,000 New Computer Viruses Detected in October 2008

» SPAMfighter News - 12/4/2008