Some 620 cyber security attacks were recorded in Vietnam in the first quarter (Q1)) of 2019, down 21.17% compared to Q4/2018 and 49.82% year-on-year, according to the Department of Information Security under Ministry of Information and Communications, VnEconomy reported.
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The figures show that cyber safety and security in Vietnam has improved. The campaigns to handle malicious code in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City over the past time has achieved certain results, the department said.
By mid-March, the Vietnam Computer Emergency Response Team (VNCERT), another unit under the Ministry of Information and Communication, issued a notice warning about a campaign to spread malicious code GandCrab 5.2 for extortion purposes in Vietnam and Southeast Asian countries.
VNCERT noted that in Vietnam, GandCrab 5.2 is distributed through email faking being sent from Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security under the title of "Goi trong Cong an Nhan dan Viet Nam", with an attached file of "documents.rar".
When the user decompresses and opens the attachment, the malicious code will be activated and all user data encrypted, generating a file that required the user to pay the ransom from US$400 – US$1,000 online to decrypt the data.
VNCERT also said that GandCrab blackmail can steal information and encrypt all data on the infected device.
