Using Vietnamese cybersecurity products: What advantages are being missed?

In the context of increasing cyber attacks and the draft Law on Cyber Security 2025 opening up a mechanism to strongly encourage domestic defense, the requirement to shift to using domestic products is not only an economic choice but also a mandatory step of autonomy to protect digital sovereignty .

“Fear of responsibility” – the root of foreign-worship mentality

For many years, the problem of developing “Make in Vietnam” cybersecurity products has always faced a major obstacle: the psychology of preferring foreign goods, considering domestic goods to be unsafe and of poor quality, and especially the “fear of responsibility” of leaders when choosing domestic solutions. A survey in December 2024 by the National Cyber Security Association (NCA) showed that, on average, each organization in Vietnam only uses 24.77% of domestic cybersecurity products and services - a number that reflects a clear dependence on foreign technology.

Photo caption

Cyber security issues are becoming increasingly urgent in the context of strong digital transformation.

Cyber security experts say this is not only a market story but also a national security issue in the context of cyberspace becoming a new front, where cybercrime and sophisticated attack methods are increasing rapidly.

According to Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Ai Viet, Director of the Institute of New Generative Intelligence Technology and Education (IGNITE), the “foreign preference” mentality in the field of cyber security has existed for many years. He has repeatedly warned of the risk of information security loss but has not been listened to.

Mr. Nguyen Ai Viet analyzed: Leaders of banks, corporations, and large organizations choose foreign products not only because they believe in the brand, but also because "they spend a lot of money to buy peace of mind". In case of an incident, using expensive products from reputable brands allows them to easily "evade responsibility. If they use foreign products and are still attacked, they can say they used the best. But if they use domestic products, they are immediately blamed for why they chose Vietnamese products".

This mentality causes domestic enterprises to lose their own "playground" in the domestic market, which should be the launching pad for growth.

Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Ai Viet pointed out: Despite their technological superiority, many foreign products have very poor after-sales support, and do not even have an office in Vietnam. When an incident occurs, domestic enterprises have to wait weeks, even months, for support, while the system is exposed.

In addition, a risk pointed out by Mr. Viet is that foreign products also have difficulty meeting Vietnam's specific standards and change very slowly in the face of new attacks.

Therefore, Mr. Viet affirmed that Vietnam must have a “domestic defense layer” in its overall defense architecture. Domestic solutions may not be as strong as foreign products, but they are tailored to suit the current situation in Vietnam and handle many “obvious loopholes” that international products do not pay attention to.

Open competition but not imposition

Sharing this view, Mr. Nguyen Minh Duc, Head of the Cyber Security Services Club, CEO of CyRadar, also said that the problem of developing Vietnam's cyber security ecosystem starts from domestic usage behavior.

Mr. Duc believes that to compete, Vietnamese enterprises need to have real-life data through domestic customers; have revenue to reinvest in R&D (research and development); and have feedback to improve. Once the product is not used, the enterprise cannot grow and even less can it compete with international corporations.

A key point promoting the domestic cybersecurity product market is the draft Law on Cyber Security 2025, in which for the first time the State introduces a policy: Encouraging agencies, organizations and individuals to use cybersecurity products and services developed in Vietnam.

Although not mandatory, this policy is considered a market-oriented push. In particular, the bill stipulates: The budget for cybersecurity protection of state agencies, state-owned enterprises and political organizations must reach at least 10% of the total information technology budget of the projects.

This number creates a new market worth thousands of billions of VND each year, helping domestic cybersecurity businesses no longer have to convince each unit to have a budget.

Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Dinh Do Thi (Department A05 - Ministry of Public Security) explained that the law only encourages, not forces, to comply with international trade commitments and ensure a fair competitive environment. Vietnamese businesses that want to win must rely on real quality.

The draft Law on Cyber Security 2025 sets out a new requirement: All products put on the market must be evaluated and tested. This is a fundamental change compared to the past when businesses did not have this obligation.

Mr. Vu Ngoc Son (National Cyber Security Association - NCA) said that it is necessary to soon complete a set of national technical standards and regulations to create a fair assessment framework. When there are Vietnamese standards, Vietnamese enterprises do not need to spend hundreds of millions of dong to apply for foreign certificates, and at the same time have a clear reference system to compete with foreign products.

Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Ai Viet made breakthrough proposals, aiming to strengthen domestic defense: Allowing the collection of network data to create a defense rule set suitable for the Vietnamese context. Legalizing the activities of white hat hackers, promoting attack/defense drills, creating a "digital immune system". Regulating the use of AI in state agencies, limiting the uploading of confidential documents to foreign platforms.

These proposals are considered highly practical, especially in the context of cybercrime taking advantage of AI, deepfake, ransomware, impersonating authorities to commit fraud... which is becoming increasingly complex.

The draft Law on Cyber Security 2025 aims not only to protect information systems but also to build a Vietnamese cybersecurity industry market large enough for domestic enterprises to mature.

In the context of cyberspace being vital to the economy and society, prioritizing the use of domestic products is not only an economic matter, but also a strategic requirement of digital sovereignty, determining Vietnam's ability to be self-reliant in the face of international risks.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/xa-hoi/dung-san-pham-an-ninh-mang-viet-nam-loi-the-nao-dang-bi-bo-lo-20251204170028522.htm