Hanoi (VNA) – Regulations of the draft law on cyber security shouldcreate a legal framework to avoid negative consequences on enterprises and thedevelopment of information technology and telecommunications, said DeputyMinister of Information and Communication Nguyen Minh Hong.

Addressing a workshop in Hanoi on May 8, Hong stated that cybersecurity should ensure cyberspace operations, while not harming national security,social order and safety, as well as legitimate rights and interests oforganisations and individuals.

The draft law on cyber security is expected to be submittedto the National Assembly for discussion latter this month.

According to the Institute for Policy Studies and MediaDevelopment, the draft law can directly regulate and affect the rights andinterests of three enterprise groups, including enterprises that produce andsell cyber security devices and technological solutions, enterprises thatprovide financial technology services and enterprises that provide digitalsolutions and services.

The draft law requires enterprises to store data andinformation within Vietnam, which had the characteristics of “datalocalisation”, said Nguyen Quang Dong, an expert from the institute. He addedthat this can hinder data flows between Vietnam and other countries, andincrease business costs for both domestic and foreign enterprises.

According to him, the draft law’s regulations on cybersecurity inspection and assessment require enterprises to suspend or stopselling their products in case such products affect cyber security. Theregulation is unclear and may lead to serious risks of violations of legalrights and interests.

This is a critical issue and needed to be consideredcarefully as strict enforcement of such regulations will have profound impactson the interests and operation of enterprises, he said.

He stressed that the State, enterprises and users are thethree key pillars ensuring cyber security.

At the workshop on cyber security, international experienceand recommendations from multi-stakeholders in Vietnam, participants alsodiscussed the trend of global cyber security, the importance of cross-borderdata flows in Asia and the development of the digital economy.

According to Jon Austin, Principal Solutions Architect ofAmazon Web Services, security is not related to the physical location of thedata. The internet is global so any system connected to the internet, directlyor indirectly, is vulnerable to attacks.

In today’s world, cyber security is really about two things:the security of the physical infrastructure where data is stored and who ownsand controls the data, he stated.

Lim May-Ann, Executive Director of the Asia Cloud ComputingAssociation, said digital policies are often viewed with a risk-managementlens, but regulators needed to move from this stance to one that facilitateseconomic growth by enabling cross-sectoral compliance and cross-jurisdictionalinteroperability.

She recommended a holistic approach to policy design andregulatory coordination and accelerated progress in technical infrastructure.-VNA