Security of digital info now even more crucial

Ensuring the security of digital information had become even more critical in recent years because of the widespread use of information technology in daily life, a senior official said at a seminar in HCM City yesterday.

Speaking at the third annual Information Security Day, Dinh The Lich, chief representative of the Information and Communications Ministry’s southern office, said that along with IT policies recently approved by the Government and National Assembly, the role of digital information security in society had become more significant.

According to a survey conducted by the Viet Nam Information Security Association’s southern branch this year, Viet Nam’s risk level of being attacked by hackers increases from 3.07 per cent last year to 3.73 per cent this year, making it the fifth-highest worldwide.

“Ninety-two per cent of major enterprises and 83 small – and medium-sized companies have faced problems in information security this year,” said Trinh Ngoc Minh, vice president of VNISA’s southern branch. “Information stolen from credit cards along with web applications are the most popular attacks,” Minh added.

He said that businesses were paying more attention to digital security, with 68 per cent asking partners to show proof that they follow international standards on information security.

Hundreds of attacks

For the first three months of the year, around 300 local websites, mostly in banking and online payments, were attacked. Around 150,000 computers contained infected viruses.

This year, the number of network connections has soared, as has the number of IT security specialists, by 10 per cent from 47 per cent last year.

Investment in security has improved, with 47 per cent of companies doing so, compared to 39 per cent in 2009.

However, the proportion of company leaders showing a lack of support for information security has risen, from 30 per cent last year to 45 per cent this year.

In addition, 65 per cent of company leaders ignore the importance of securing digital security, and two-thirds of organisations do not know how to react to computer attacks.

“The city has already linked 24 districts, 36 departments and industries as well as 28 member companies into the city web. In case of attacks, all activities would be affected,” said Nguyen Anh Tuan, vice director of the city’s Information and Communications Department.

The city was trying to build a legal framework with a security policy for each application, develop human resources and rid the local internet of violent games and pornography websites.

The seminar, as well as an exhibition about the latest technologies on information security, was attended by 300 people, including an Israeli business group. — VNS