Hanoi Convention: Protecting the nation's digital future

Photo caption

Visitors to the exhibition of technology equipment on network safety and security. Photo: Minh Quyet/VNA

On October 25, Vietnam will host the signing ceremony of the United Nations Convention against Cybercrime (Hanoi Convention), affirming Vietnam's role, position and commitment to accompany the world in the fight against cybercrime on a global scale.

Cybersecurity - a borderless challenge

Digital transformation, digital economy and digital society are opening up development opportunities for countries. However, along with the benefits are increasingly complex cybersecurity challenges as criminals attack critical information systems, steal data, commit high-tech fraud, spread bad information, etc. Cyber attacks not only cause financial losses but also pose the risk of paralyzing critical infrastructure, threatening national sovereignty .

In late September 2025, several major airports in Europe were thrown into chaos when their check-in software systems were attacked. Using just a ransomware code, the suspect completely paralyzed the entire automated check-in system at the airports. Thousands of passengers were stranded, many flights were delayed/cancelled, causing serious damage.

The United Nations predicts that cybercrime could cost the global economy about $10.5 trillion by 2025, up from $3 trillion in 2015, larger than the GDP of most developed economies. Research by the World Economic Forum also shows that in just the past two years, the number of cyberattacks targeting organizations globally has increased by 58%.

In Vietnam, according to the Ministry of Science and Technology, it is estimated that nearly 50% of Vietnamese agencies and businesses have been attacked by cyberattacks at least once in 2024. The financial and banking sector is the top target, accounting for 71% of all cyberattacks.

According to statistics from the Department of Cyber Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention (A05 - Ministry of Public Security), in the first 8 months of 2025, Vietnam recorded more than 1,500 online fraud cases, causing a loss of 1,660 billion VND. Criminal tricks are increasingly sophisticated, such as deepfake, OTP hijacking, impersonating authorities, etc.

In the third quarter of 2025, Vietnam recorded more than 6.5 million stolen personal accounts, nearly 4,000 phishing domains and more than 547,000 DDoS attacks, many of which were carried out with the support of artificial intelligence (AI). These are the outstanding figures of the Report on Information Security Risks in Vietnam in the third quarter of 2025, recently released by Viettel Cyber Security Company (Viettel Military Industry - Telecommunications Group).

The cyber security incident and signs of personal data breach that occurred at the National Credit Information Center last September are typical cases. In mid-October, Vietnam Airlines also had a data security incident related to the online customer care platform operated by a global technology corporation. According to Vietnam Airlines' notice to customers, some personal information may have been exposed, including full name, email address, phone number, date of birth and Lotusmiles membership number.

Mr. Vu Ngoc Son, Head of the Department of Research, Consulting, Technology Development and International Cooperation, National Cyber Security Association, commented that the dangerous characteristic of cyber attacks is their cross-border spread. The impact of cyber attacks does not stop at economic damage, more seriously, it is the erosion of people's trust in online services. When data is continuously leaked, users hesitate to use digital platforms, thereby slowing down economic growth in the long term. "Now, cyber security is no longer a potential risk but has become a constant risk for every country and every industry," Mr. Vu Ngoc Son emphasized.

Proactively participating in international conventions and building a solid cybersecurity ecosystem will protect the country's digital infrastructure, digital trust and digital future. Vietnam has affirmed its position and pioneering role when the United Nations chose Hanoi as the place to open the Hanoi Convention.

Building Vietnam's sovereign cybersecurity technology

As cyber attacks are cross-border, expanding international cooperation becomes more urgent, helping Vietnam to both take advantage of global intellectual resources and strengthen its self-reliance. In this context, the National Cyber Security Association becomes a bridge between forces, building a network of domestic and foreign cybersecurity experts, expanding incident response alliances, and forming an effective coordination mechanism to ensure a safe and reliable digital environment.

Responding to the Hanoi Convention, the National Cyber Security Association coordinated with relevant sectors to launch the “Not Alone” Campaign with the message “Together to be safe online”; the “Anti-online fraud 2025” campaign nationwide from October to December 2025; the communication campaign “All people fight fraud”. The campaigns aim to raise public awareness, strengthen digital trust and build a “safe shield” against increasingly sophisticated cybercrime.

In particular, the National Cyber Security Association in collaboration with the Department of Cyber Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention (Ministry of Public Security) organized the 2025 Cyber Security Student Competition with the theme "Data Security and Personal Data Protection". The competition demonstrates the strong response of young people to the Hanoi Convention, encourages and promotes the movement of researching and learning cybersecurity skills among students; discovers and fosters young human resources with cybersecurity capacity, and at the same time creates a healthy academic playground, connecting students nationwide. In particular, a number of guest teams of international students also participated. The preliminary round of the competition took place on October 18 simultaneously at schools across the country and connected online with 27 schools in 8 other countries. The competition attracted 327 teams with a total of 1,265 contestants. Candidates competed and tested their skills by solving 21 cyber security challenges in 5 specialized topic groups, reflecting real-life cyber attack and defense situations.

Mr. Vu Ngoc Son, Head of the Department of Research, Consulting, Technology Development and International Cooperation, National Cyber Security Association, Head of the Jury of the competition, said: The highlight of this year's competition is the integration of the message of the Hanoi Convention into each challenge, spreading the spirit of cooperation - responsibility - sustainable development in cyberspace. The Vietnamese teams had an excellent competition day when they took all 10 top positions. In which, BlueBox from the Academy of Cryptography Techniques was the best team, conquering 18 out of 21 challenges.

Many other activities to raise awareness and capacity on cybersecurity have also been responded and implemented by units. Promoting the role of the Association, member enterprises have researched, created and mastered many cybersecurity technologies. Typically, Vietnam National Cyber Security Technology Joint Stock Company (NCS) announced the Cyber Security Product Ecosystem.

Built on the philosophy of combining modern surveillance technology, practical experience, artificial intelligence applications and using multiple intelligence data sources to form an effective multi-layered protection system. This ecosystem updates nearly 300 common cybercrime attack techniques, trains 12 specialized AI models, increases the ability to identify cyber security risks and reduces manual operations. Thereby, helping agencies and businesses build a solid, effective security foundation, save operating costs and meet the increasing demands of the digital environment.

The NCS cybersecurity product ecosystem not only provides Made in Vietnam protection solutions but also pursues the mission of enhancing domestic strength, gradually building Vietnam's sovereign cybersecurity technology, contributing to the development of the cybersecurity industry.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/thoi-su/cong-uoc-ha-noi-bao-ve-tuong-lai-so-cua-quoc-gia-20251023103950355.htm