Starting a business from a telecommunications business "pedestal"

About 10 years ago, in Vietnam, the concepts of "information security" and "cyber security" were not really popular in social life.

The establishment of Vietnam Cyber Security Technology Joint Stock Company (VNCS) in 2011 attracted much attention because it was related to the telecommunications giant Hanoi Telecom - the unit that, together with its partner Hutchison Telecom, invested in, established, developed and managed the Vietnamobile mobile information network.

At that time, Hanoi Telecom was one of the first large telecommunications companies in Vietnam to establish a specialized unit for information security (the predecessor of VNCS).

The two personnel who were "chosen to be the ones to take on the responsibility of "steering the ship" of VNCS from the very beginning were Mr. Khong Huy Hung - General Director, and Mr. Nguyen Thanh Dat - Deputy General Director.

Mr. Khong Huy Hung, General Director of VNCS.

“At that time, I had studied and worked abroad for 6 years, with quite a bit of experience in Computer Engineering and Business Administration. Mr. Dat had just graduated from the Academy of Cryptography Engineering, Faculty of Information Security. At that time, in Vietnam, there was not much talk about digital transformation, but the keywords people often used were still “the fourth industrial revolution”, “industrial revolution 4.0”. We believe that information security is an indispensable factor in this revolution. In the context that Vietnam already had a few information security enterprises, but none of them were really outstanding, realizing that the field of information security had a lot of potential in the future, Hanoi Telecom's leaders decided to establish VNCS with the hope that VNCS would become the leading information security enterprise in Vietnam”, Mr. Khong Huy Hung recounted the opportunity to work with VNCS.

Formed in the "heart" of a large telecommunications enterprise, VNCS has many favorable conditions compared to other startups.

“Born within the framework of Hanoi Telecom, we inherited the professional thinking and working process to apply to the VNCS apparatus from the very first day of establishment. Up to now, 12 years have passed,” the General Director of VNCS continued the story.

Unique DSD model

The information security market is increasingly competitive with the entry of many domestic and international enterprises. However, VNCS still maintains its position with a unique business model: DSD (Distribution, Service, Development).

VNCS owns a fairly complete ecosystem of information security products and services to meet diverse market needs.

“We are almost the only enterprise in the Vietnamese information security market operating under the DSD model, owning an ecosystem of information security products and services that meet diverse market needs. VNCS distributes information security software with a very high "gray matter" content, while most other companies in Vietnam only distribute information security hardware. At the same time, we provide information security services that are among the earliest and most complete in Vietnam. In addition, we also have self-researched and developed products related to web vulnerability scanning, malware analysis, etc. that have been highly appreciated in the market for many years,” Mr. Hung boasted.

The ecosystem that VNCS has worked hard to build up to now, in addition to products and services from the world's leading suppliers such as Splunk, Radware, Crowdstrike, etc., also has an impressive list of "Make in Vietnam" products and services such as SOC network security monitoring and operation service, Penetration Testing information security assessment and inspection service, Incident Response information security incident response and handling service, Attack risk assessment service and Compromise Assessment system, Threat Intelligence information security risk knowledge and data provision system, Monitoring and warning system to minimize the risk of important information leakage (Digital Threat Monitoring), etc.

The products and services provided by VNCS help organizations and businesses cut costs, optimize processes, invest in information security reasonably, improve the ability to ensure overall information security for the entire system, thereby contributing to the overall growth of the economy .

One of the secrets to VNCS's success, revealed by Deputy General Director Nguyen Thanh Dat, is the focus on human and product factors: "The VNCS team is young, enthusiastic, and ready to accompany at any time to solve the "difficult problems" of organizations and businesses. We always try to choose the best personnel and new products that can contribute to bringing great value to customers and partners."

Deputy General Director of VNCS Nguyen Thanh Dat.

“VNCS’s latest slogan includes the phrase “Secure your growth”. We always hope that VNCS will become a brake that helps customers feel secure when accelerating their business development. You cannot go fast without good brakes. Having good brakes will make you feel more secure in the process of digital transformation and growth”, General Director Khong Huy Hung added.

VNCS's 12-year journey of efforts has been recognized by many Vietnamese organizations and businesses.

“When Techcombank was looking for a partner in the security field, we surveyed the market and found that VNCS, although a relatively young company, had a lot of experience. We highly appreciate VNCS's team of experts, who are truly knowledgeable about the field of network security and the security market in Vietnam. We are very impressed with the experiences that VNCS's products and services bring,” Mr. Nguyen Anh Tuan, Director of Information Technology, Vietnam Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Bank, shared his personal feelings.

VNCS team is ready to accompany and solve "difficult problems" of organizations and businesses.

Representing Vietnam National Payment Joint Stock Company, a company that has used VNCS's infrastructure monitoring, service quality monitoring and information security event monitoring solutions since 2016, Deputy General Director Nguyen Hung Nguyen commented: "This solution has brought many practical benefits. The biggest benefit is the transparency of information about incidents occurring in the service provision infrastructure. The quality of VNCS's human resources is very good. I really hope that VNCS can fulfill its ambition to reach out to the world, soon becoming one of the Vietnamese security solution service companies with a reputation in the world market."

Appreciating the contributions of VNCS to national network security activities in recent times, Mr. Tran Dang Khoa, Deputy Director in charge of the Department of Information Security, Ministry of Information and Communications, hopes that in the coming time, "VNCS will develop more strongly and firmly in both domestic and international markets, contributing to making Vietnam one of the strong countries in network security".

Ambition to reach out to the world

2020 is an important milestone for VNCS when it entered into a joint venture with Terilogy Network and Security Company (Japan) to establish VNCS Global Company.

“Terilogy loves the Vietnamese people, understands the enthusiasm and spirit of the Vietnamese people, and wants to find a partner in Vietnam to develop together in the Southeast Asian market as well as some other countries in the world. VNCS wants to find a partner who can support the process, develop the market both in breadth and depth. The two companies came together and established VNCS Global Company. We hope to be able to combine the “gray matter” and Vietnamese people with Japanese technology and processes to bring greater values to the world,” Mr. Dat recalled.

“The establishment of VNCS Global is the “first shot” to start VNCS’s journey to the global market. We jokingly say that we have married a Japanese wife. A year ago, we established VNCS Asia Company to approach the markets of Cambodia, Laos, etc. Our motto is to strengthen joint ventures and partnerships because we know that we alone cannot do everything we want. Hopefully in the future, we will marry more foreign wives to bring the VNCS brand in particular, and the “brainpower” of information security of Vietnamese people in general, to shine in the international market,” Mr. Hung happily shared his future direction.

VNCS team is aiming for the global "playground" with many great aspirations.

Aiming for a global "playground" in the digital age, VNCS leaders clearly understand that the road ahead has many opportunities along with many challenges. Technology changes every day, requiring each individual working at VNCS to always be in a mindset of integration and development.

The head of VNCS clearly defined the mission for the next 5 years: "VNCS will not only serve customers well in Vietnam but also expand its scope of operations to many international markets, bringing Vietnamese intellectual products in the field of information security to the world; Accelerating the realization of the aspiration to build a number 1 security ecosystem in the region".

Vietnamnet.vn