Ministry of Information and Communications warns of increasing trend of data encryption attacks

The Department of Information Security ( Ministry of Information and Communications ) has just announced that through monitoring and supervising Vietnam's cyberspace, this agency has discovered an increasing trend of cyber attacks, especially ransomware attacks.

“Recently, a number of information systems of agencies, organizations and enterprises in Vietnam have been hit by ransomware attacks, causing disruptions in operations and material and image damage to agencies, organizations and enterprises, as well as activities to ensure national cyberspace security,” the Department of Information Security said.

The Information Security Department requests specialized IT and information security units of ministries, branches and localities; State-owned corporations and groups; Financial institutions, State-owned commercial banks; Social Policy Banks, Vietnam Development Bank, Vietnam Cooperatives; and enterprises operating in the postal and e-commerce sectors to review and strengthen solutions to ensure network information security for information systems. In particular, prioritizing monitoring and early warning solutions.

From now until April 15, units need to check and evaluate the information security assurance for information systems under their management, especially information systems that store and process personal information and personal data. In case of detecting risks, vulnerabilities and weaknesses in the system, the unit needs to immediately implement remedial measures.

Agencies, organizations, and businesses need to periodically hunt for threats in the system to promptly detect signs of intrusion. For systems that have detected serious security vulnerabilities, after fixing the vulnerability, the unit needs to immediately conduct threat hunting to determine the possibility of previous intrusion.

Check and update information security patches for important systems according to warnings from the Department of Information Security and related agencies and organizations; periodically check, evaluate, and review to promptly detect information security vulnerabilities and weaknesses that exist on the system. At the same time, regularly and continuously use digital platforms developed and provided by the Ministry of Information and Communications to support management and enforcement to ensure information security.