- Computer viruses caused a loss of 8.7 trillion VND (400 million USD) in Vietnam last year compared to 8.5 trillion VND in 2014, the BKAV Technology Group revealed in its latest network security survey released last month.
Nearly 63,000 new viruses appeared last year, infecting 61.7 million computers.
The losses caused by computer viruses are calculated based on users' incomes and their computers' downtime.
On average, a computer user in Vietnam lost 1.25 million VND (55 USD) and nearly 7 million computers were seriously affected, the survey said.
USBs were the worst hit resource, with 83 percent of survey participants saying their USBs were infected at least once last year compared to 85 percent in 2014.
Over 9.1 million computers were infected by viruses through USB, the most common being the W32 UsbFakeDrive virus.
Half the respondents complained about getting spam messages every day, a rise in numbers despite efforts to crack down by the Government and mobile service providers.
However, the huge benefits many derived from spam meant the situation could not be fully addressed, and around 14 million spam messages were sent to mobile users every day.
Around 93 percent of Facebook users too said they often got spam messages, sexual content or harmful links (malware).
Every month, BKAV said, 1,000 fake accounts were created to steal Facebook users' banking details.
The survey indicated one good thing: that 58 percent of mobile users paid attention to security when they wanted to download software, a significant increase from the 13 percent in 2014.
But nearly 40 percent continued to ignore this.
The survey also recognised that users' security awareness had improved, with 48 percent of participants only opening a file after checking with senders, 74 percent often locking their computers, and the number of those with strong passwords (a combination of digits, letters, special characters) growing.
Besides, hackers successfully attacked over 5,200 websites belonging to both the Government and private organisations and businesses.
In 2016 ransomware (stealing database to blackmail) and adware (illegal advertisement software) are expected to proliferate because of the huge attendant profits.
Spyware for stealing information and DDoS (service denial) are also likely to increase.
"Political conflicts and huge profits will breed computer viruses in 2016," Ngo Tuan Anh, BKAV's deputy chairman in charge of network security, warned.-VNA
Computer virus attacks have cost Vietnamese computer users an average of 327 billion VND (18 million USD) since January 2008 to Aril of this year, according to a survey by the Bach Khoa Internetwork Security Centre (BKIS).
Government agencies and computer users in Vietnam were warned of the potential loss of data on computers affected by the emerging computer virus CryptoLocker.
The approval of the plan of development of digital information security to 2020 and the Law on Internet Security show that Vietnam has raised awareness of the importance of information security.
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The government leader reaffirmed Vietnam’s goal of achieving self-reliance in the design, manufacturing, and test of necessary semiconductor chips by no later than 2027.
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Dung directed the Ministry of Science and Technology to revise the national startup scheme, ensuring it clearly defines the scope and content, grounded on strong political and legal foundations, international best practices, and well-reasoned arguments for submission to the Government.
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With such a rapid economic growth, Vietnam must diversify energy sources and nuclear power is a rational choice to ensure the national energy security, said Associate Professor Kei Koga from the Nanyang Technological University (Singapore).
Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Chi Dung emphasised that Vietnam has a clear strategy and ambition in this field, and is rapidly emerging as a central hub and key link in the regional and global semiconductor value chains.
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Under the theme “Breakthrough Era with the Development of Industrial Internet”, the event gathered over 400 delegates, including senior officials, leading Internet experts, and technology engineers from Vietnam and abroad.
Illustrative image (Source: VNA)
