Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Cyber security is ahot issue globally and in Vietnam, concerns on the subject have been expressedby the Government and departments, especially in the field of banking –finance, said Le Manh Hung, director of the State Bank of Vietnam’s InformationTechnology Department.

The Vietnam Information Security Association(VNISA), the Information Technology Department and the Financial Services -Information Sharing and Analysis Center (FS-ISAC) co-organised a workshoptitled ‘Threat intelligence and responses to cyber attacks in the bankingsector’ in Hanoi on last week.

The workshop aimed to create conditions forVietnamese financial organisations and banks to access measures to ensuresafety, prevent cyber attacks and warn about cyber risks so solutions can beput in place to protect information systems effectively.

The banking industry is constantly improving thequality of its services, including digital banking services such as internetbanking, mobile banking, and 24/7 ATM services, said Hung.

However, these conveniences also result in manyrisks and challenges in information security for customers and banks, he said.“Banks themselves have invested in advanced security solutions such asfirewalls, anti-malware software, data leakage prevention solutions, intrusiondetection systems and regulations governing the operation of informationtechnology,” he said.

“However, this is not enough to combatunpredictable and complicated cyber attacks.”

Hackers often used Cobalt malware to attackbanking systems and automatic teller machines (ATMs), said Tim Bobak, an expertfrom Group-IB.

“Hacker groups use Cobalt malware to manipulateaccount information and adjust security settings to withdraw through ATMs,” theexpert said.

Bobak said that there were many different measuresto deal with network security issues for the banking system such as monitoringtransactions and internet banking activities as there were various protectionmechanisms in banking systems. One solution in limiting night trading wouldprotect the interests of customers because hackers were heavily active at night.

Recently, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) requiredcredit institutions and branches of foreign banks in the country to limit cashwithdrawals from their ATMs at night.

The SBV’s move was made after several Vietnamesebanks had trouble dealing with card data theft and so-called skimming at ATMs,especially at night, including Agribank. In April this year, 400 Agribankaccounts were the victims of theft.

According to a statistic from VNISA, theinformation security index of Vietnamese credit institutions and banks was only59.9 percent last year.

Of these, the banking group had an index of 60.9percent and other credit institutions stood at 55.4 percent.

The figure was low compared to the urgentrequirement of information security at the moment, Vu Quoc Khanh, VNISAinformation security expert, said. “It is important for banks to determinetheir level of information security.”

In fact, only a few banks have identified thelevel of information security at 4/5, he said. Khanh said that the State Bankof Vietnam should provide information, guidance and experience to reduce risks.-VNS/VNA