Cyber attacks will remain complex in 2024

In 2023, there were 13,900 cyber attacks on systems in Vietnam, an increase of 9.5% compared to 2022. Of these, 554 websites of government and educational agencies and organizations with the domain names .gov.vn and .edu.vn were hacked and had gambling and betting advertising codes inserted.

On December 12, Vietnam National Cyber Security Technology Company (NCS) published a summary report on Vietnam's Cyber Security situation in 2023.

Cyber attacks increased by 9.5%, averaging 1,160 cases per month

According to NCS, 13,900 cyber attacks were recorded on organizations in Vietnam in 2023, an average of 1,160 cases per month, an increase of 9.5% compared to 2022. The targets that suffered the most attacks last year were government agencies, banking systems, financial institutions, industrial systems and other critical systems. In particular, in the last 3 months of 2023, the number of cyber attacks increased sharply, up to 1,614 cases in 1 month, 1.5 times higher than the average.

The reason is that at the end of the year, agencies, businesses, and organizations have many IT projects to complete, and staff often have to work at 100% capacity, so there is a high possibility of many errors occurring. This is also an opportunity for hackers to attack and sabotage.

According to NCS statistics, up to 342 educational websites with the domain name .edu.vn and 212 government agency websites with the domain name .gov.vn were attacked in this way. In particular, many websites were attacked many times without a complete solution.

Many websites of government agencies and educational organizations with the domain names .gov.vn and .edu.vn were hacked and had gambling and betting advertising codes inserted.

To prevent cyber attacks, agencies and organizations need to review the overall network security architecture, periodically check and evaluate (pentest) the services and devices in use. Deploy 24/7 network security monitoring systems, which require full collection of activity logs of the entire system, ensure storage for at least 6 months, and assign a specialist or outsource network security monitoring services.

Data encryption malware outbreak at the end of the year

According to NCS, the rate of computers in Vietnam being attacked by malware in 2023 is 43.6%, although it has decreased slightly by 8.6% compared to 2022, it is still at a high level in the world. Vietnam's continuous efforts to reduce the rate of computers infected with malware each year are worth noting, because before that in 2018, this infection rate was still very high at more than 60%.

The past year also saw many cases of ransomware attacks with serious consequences. Not only encrypting data to demand ransom from victims, hackers can leak and sell data to third parties to maximize the amount of money collected. Up to 83,000 computers and servers were recorded to have been attacked by data encryption malware, an increase of 8.4% compared to 2022.

In particular, the number of data encryption attacks increased sharply in the fourth quarter of 2023, exceeding the average of the first three quarters of the year by 23%. Some key facilities also recorded data encryption attacks during this time. The number of data encryption malware variants appearing in 2023 was 37,500, an increase of 5.7% compared to 2022.

Number of data encryption attacks to increase sharply in 2023

Warning about data leaks and rampant online fraud

The situation of user data leakage in Vietnam has reached an alarming level. According to statistics in 2023, the Ministry of Public Security had to warn and handle tens of millions of cases related to personal database infringement. More seriously, this data has been sold on forums, even on Telegram groups. Accordingly, it only takes a few thousand VND to get a person's personal data through a contact phone number.

There are two main reasons for data leaks in Vietnam. The first reason is that the systems that collect and store user information do not ensure security, which leads to hackers breaking in and stealing data or employees actively selling it for illegal profit. The second reason is that users are subjective and careless, revealing their information online or on online shopping websites. Junk SIMs, junk bank accounts are rampant, personal data is leaked, and the popularity of DeepFake technology has led to a series of online fraud incidents in 2023. Bad guys rely on the data they have, create scenarios for each target, and use DeepFake to fake images and voices, making it very difficult for victims to detect.

According to statistics, there are more than 24 different forms of fraud, the most prominent of which are "easy work, high salary" fraud, stock investment fraud, foreign exchange investment fraud with huge profits, impersonating relatives and friends who have had accidents, impersonating police officers, tax officers to trick people into installing fake apps to take control of their phones. In many cases, victims have lost huge amounts of money, up to billions of dong.

Online fraud is an alarming situation in Vietnam in 2023

According to NCS experts, the promulgation of Decree 13/2023/ND-CP on personal data protection and the upcoming Decree on penalties related to personal data protection will force organizations that collect, store, and process personal data to be responsible for strengthening and improving management measures as well as technical measures to ensure data security. People also need to be more vigilant, proactively protect personal data, and seek information to identify fraudulent tricks. Thereby helping themselves to have self-defense skills when participating in cyberspace.

Cybersecurity Forecast 2024

According to NCS, in 2024, cyber attacks, APT attacks on critical systems, and data encryption attacks will continue to occur. The rapid digital transformation has made smartphones extremely important in life and work, but also very attractive to hackers.

Mobile users will face more malware that can penetrate, exploit vulnerabilities, and take control of phones, including phones running Android and iOS (iPhone). There will be large-scale attacks targeting IoT devices, especially devices that can collect information and images such as security cameras and public advertising screens.

Artificial intelligence (AI) technology has made miraculous progress in 2023 and will continue to explode in application in 2024. This will lead to tools serving malicious purposes such as fraud and cyber attacks. Generative AI such as ChatGPT and DeepFake will be used to self-compose fraudulent scenarios to steal money from victims. Malware and exploit tools will be equipped with artificial intelligence to increase the ability to exploit vulnerabilities as well as help bypass cybersecurity solutions.

TRAN BINH

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