Affirming Vietnam's strong commitment

In mid-September, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) announced the results of its 2024 Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) assessment. According to this fifth assessment, Vietnam is among the top 46 countries – those with total scores between 95 and 100 – alongside many developed countries such as the US, UK, France, Germany, and Italy. The ITU noted that this group of countries serves as a 'role model,' demonstrating strong commitment and efforts in ensuring cybersecurity.

The ITU report also shows that, with a total score of 99.74/100, Vietnam ranks 17th along with Spain because they have the same total score, behind 16 other countries, including 13 countries with a perfect score of 100/100 and 3 countries (the US, Portugal, and Singapore) all with a total score of 99.86.

Notably, in addition to maintaining a perfect score of 20/20 in the legal and cooperation pillars, Vietnam also achieved perfect scores in two other pillars, technical and organizational, while the score for the capacity building pillar was 19.74.

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According to the GCI 2024, Vietnam achieved a perfect score of 20/20 in 4 out of 5 pillars. (Illustrative image: DV)

Within the Asia- Pacific region, Vietnam ranks 4th out of 11 countries in the region that are among the leading countries in the GCI 2024. Within ASEAN, Vietnam ranks 3rd, after Indonesia and Singapore. Thus, compared to the GCI 2020 published in 2021, Vietnam has risen 8 places globally and 1 place within ASEAN.

Commenting on Vietnam's impressive results, Mr. Ngo Tuan Anh, Vice President of the Vietnam Information Security Association (VNISA) and Chairman of SCS Company, said: "This assessment by the ITU shows Vietnam's efforts over the past time in ensuring information security and responding to cybersecurity threats."

“This effort is not just a matter of a few days, but a whole process. At the same time, GCI 2024 also shows that the attention and investment in the field of cybersecurity in Vietnam have yielded remarkable results,” Mr. Ngo Tuan Anh shared.

Emphasizing that cybersecurity is a common concern for those working in the telecommunications and internet sector, Vu The Binh, Vice President and Secretary General of the Vietnam Internet Association, said: Being ranked in the leading group shows the recognition by international organizations of Vietnam's commitments in the field of cybersecurity.

To substantiate his statement, Mr. Vu The Binh analyzed: “In reality, in Vietnam, over the past 4-5 years, cybersecurity has received significant attention from state management agencies, organizations, businesses, and even the general public. Legal regulations have been developed and improved, and activities related to this field have become increasingly numerous. It is certain that both the awareness and actions of many parties in Vietnam have improved significantly compared to the time the GCI 2020 report was compiled.”

From the perspective of an expert with over 20 years of experience in the field of information security, VSEC Chairman Truong Duc Luong commented: At the national level, with a near-perfect score, it can be affirmed that Vietnam's commitment to maintaining and ensuring information security is very strong and courageous, especially when looking at the GCI 2024, where many countries with much higher per capita income than Vietnam are ranked lower than us.

Aiming for self-reliance in cybersecurity.

Analyzing further the factors that contribute to Vietnam's continued high rating by the ITU in cybersecurity, Mr. Truong Duc Luong stated that Vietnam's commitment to this field has been realized through a series of actions at the highest levels of the Party and State. These include, firstly, the Politburo 's Resolution 30 on the national cybersecurity strategy (2018); and secondly, two important laws: the Law on Information Security (2015) and the Law on Cybersecurity (2018), with numerous provisions shaping the management, guidance, and cooperation on information security and cybersecurity.

Vietnam has introduced and implemented numerous regulations, such as ensuring information system security at different levels, clearly defining areas of critical national infrastructure, and protecting personal data. These regulations are also highly regarded within the legal pillar of GCI 2024.

On the other hand, Vietnam also has in-depth technical regulations, particularly the long-standing presence of VNCERT (now VNCERT/CC) as the national emergency response coordination agency, followed by the National Cybersecurity Monitoring Center (NCSC) with its role in monitoring the entire cyberspace. In addition, the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of National Defense also have monitoring centers for critical national infrastructure organizations.

“When these units are operational, they will serve as a solid shield for the nation to identify and coordinate large-scale response resources against cyberattacks. These are very important aspects of GCI 2024 and will also help us achieve a high score, close to the maximum score, ” Mr. Truong Duc Luong stated.

However, VSEC representatives also noted that, along with a strong commitment to ensuring cybersecurity, overall, agencies and organizations face challenges in implementation, including increased costs such as compliance costs, training costs, and technology costs.

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According to SCS representatives, besides enhancing response capabilities, the orientation towards self-reliance in cybersecurity is also a prerequisite and driving force for Vietnamese businesses to develop products and solutions. Photo: N.Linh

According to Mr. Ngo Tuan Anh, the key factor behind Vietnam's further 8-rank increase in the GCI assessment is the shift in mindset and awareness regarding the importance of cybersecurity to national security and prosperity. This has led to better policies, legal frameworks, and investments in this area in Vietnam in recent years.

Sharing his views on the key areas to focus on in the coming period so that Vietnam can realize its vision of becoming a self-reliant nation in cybersecurity to protect national prosperity in cyberspace, Mr. Ngo Tuan Anh stated: Besides continuing to update and improve the legal framework on information security and safety, Vietnam also needs to focus on building and making information security and safety standards mandatory, not only for national digital infrastructure and platforms, but also for Internet services provided to the people.

"To achieve self-reliance in cybersecurity, we need businesses. Therefore, we need to prioritize selecting Vietnamese cybersecurity businesses with sufficient capacity to provide products and services; creating a market for Vietnamese cybersecurity businesses to develop and thrive," Mr. Ngo Tuan Anh emphasized.

The Ministry of Information and Communications launches a digital platform to help detect information security risks early . The platform for managing, detecting, and providing early warnings of information security risks has just been put into operation by the Ministry of Information and Communications. This digital platform is expected to contribute to enhancing the protection capabilities of organizations and businesses in Vietnam.