At a cybersecurity drill on 23/9, Deputy Auditor General Bui Quoc Dung stated that the State Audit Office of Vietnam (SAV) stores a large amount of data related to the national budget, finances, and public assets. Therefore, the SAV’s IT system is considered critical national data infrastructure.

"Ensuring information security will help protect data and maintain transparency," Dung said.

Deputy Auditor General Bui Quoc Dung at the conference, 23/9. Photo: Anh Duc

The SAV's cybersecurity drill simulated various real-world attack scenarios. The drills revealed several technical vulnerabilities and instances of users being tricked by phishing emails. According to SAV leadership, this demonstrates that ensuring information security remains a challenge, partly due to user awareness.

The Deputy Auditor General has directed all units to immediately address the vulnerabilities and upgrade their information security systems to level 4, the highest level for non-defense and security ministries and agencies. The SAV is also increasing access control measures and organizing training sessions to improve security awareness across the agency.

The SAV is strengthening its information security amidst Vietnam's digital transformation, which coincides with increasing risks to information security and cybersecurity. According to statistics from Viettel Threat Intelligence, in the first half of this year, the country recorded over 8.5 million compromised accounts, nearly 530,000 DDoS attacks, and 191 data breaches affecting over 3 billion records. This represents a threefold increase compared to the same period in 2024.

VNPT Cyber Immunity estimates that ransomware attacks have caused over 10 million USD in damages. The financial, banking, telecommunications, technology, and public service sectors are the primary targets. Most recently, VNCERT confirmed and is investigating a hacker attack on the National Credit Information Center (CIC) of the State Bank of Vietnam, with indications of personal data theft.

Phuong Dung