Hackers attacked more than 1,000 websites last year, double the 2008 figure and
three times more than that in 2007, said Pham Viet The, head of the Computing
Department at the Ministry of Public Security.

A survey of 40 banks
conducted by the Bach Khoa Inter-network Security Centre (BKIS) found that 20 of
them were unsecured.

The investigation
revealed vulnerabilities in money transfers and discovered that the password
recovery function to user accounts could also be used to change the customer’s
password. Customer question and complaint forms could be used to install
dangerous codes into the server and control the internet banking system, the
survey found.

Banking security
networks were always at risk of being attacked if they did not have proper
management systems, said director of the Ministry of Information and
Communications’ Viet Nam Computer Emergency Response Team (VNCERT) Vu Quoc Khanh,
adding that the banking sector was a favourite target for hi-tech criminals.

Statistics show that
80 per cent of banks nationwide have established, or planned to establish,
internet banking solutions. However, there is an agreement within the sector
that internet banking increases the risk that banks will be attacked by network
criminals.

Dang Manh Pho,
director of the IT Department at the Bank for Investment and Development of Viet
Nam (BIDV), said the bank had made significant investments in technology,
including a banking security system which accounted for 20-30 per cent of the
total costs. The bank spent VND1.6 trillion (US$82 million) on its banking
security network in 2009 and another VND1 trillion ($47.6 million) in 2010.

BKIS experts offered
solutions for banks to overcome the risks to their internet banking systems,
such as independent assessments to determine the weaknesses in their systems
combined with application of ISO 27001 standards on information security
management, overall computer anti-virus solutions and digital signature
certification to secure bank transactions.

Nguyen Minh Duc,
general director of BKIS, said the existing vulnerabilities in network
securities at Vietnamese banks was attributed to the lack of an independent
security assessment process of internet banking systems as well as a lack of
standards on information security.

VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News