Appearing in late 2010, advanced persistentthreat (APT) attacks have consistently been named one of the top threats toinformation safety and security. With sophisticated and changing attack methods,they have caused major losses.
More than 27 percent of APT attacks in Vietnam havetargeted Government agencies, followed by financial-banking organisations andtelecoms businesses with huge amounts of customer data. Meanwhile, 80 – 90percent of the malware used in those attacks was specifically designed for eachtarget, according to the Authority of Information Security (AIS) under theMinistry of Information and Communications (MIC).
Preventing APT attacks is still challengingdespite the billions of USD organisations and businesses spend each year onthis work, the AIS said.
Statistics of the Vietnam Computer EmergencyResponse Team (VNCERT) show that in 2017, the country was hit by 13,382cyber-attacks, including 6,400 malware, 4,377 defacing and 2,605 phishingattacks. As of June 25 this year, 5,179 attacks had been recorded, comprising1,122 phishing, 3,200 defacing and 857 malware attacks.
The AIS warned that the consequences of APTattacks for the national information system were unpredictable. The attackscould undermine the economy and political system of a country “without using asingle arrow or bullet.”
MIC Deputy Minister Nguyen Thanh Hung said torespond to cyber-attacks, many units specialising in cyber information safetyhave ran cyber security drills with the VNCERT.
The AIS itself has held many exercises onensuring information safety in fields like transport, health care, electricity,business and finance to improve organisations’ readiness to handle cyberincidents.
All units should be aware of the benefits ofensuring information safety so as to make appropriate investments in thisissue. Information safety risks, especially those for businesses, could costnot only money but also the existence of agencies, Hung said.
Nguyen Thanh Lam, head of the telecom and ITdivision of the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) Group, said the EVN has alwayspaid attention to cyber security, adding that exercises can help organisationsand businesses realise risks for cyber security. To deal with cyber incidents,it is necessary to build as many attack scenarios as possible and prepareresponses for those scenarios, the official stressed.-VNA