Recalling SPT's prefix, losing 15.3 billion VND because of being tricked into installing fake applications

Revoke SPT's prefix

On January 25, 2024, the Department of Telecommunications ( Ministry of Information and Communications ) announced the revocation of the telecommunications numbering warehouse allocated to Saigon Post and Telecommunications Services Joint Stock Company (SPT) due to non-payment of telecommunications numbering usage fees.

The Department of Telecommunications has allocated telecommunications number storage to SPT Company to conduct telecommunications services including landline numbers, 1800 and 1900 numbers, but SPT Company has not paid the fee for using the number storage.

The Department of Telecommunications has allocated telecommunications numbers to SPT Company to provide telecommunications services including landline numbers, 1800 and 1900 numbers, but SPT Company has not paid the fee for using the telecommunications number to the State for a long time, causing great impact on State management.

Pursuant to Point c, Clause 2, Article 50 of the Law on Telecommunications, which stipulates the recovery of telecommunications numbering in cases where organizations and individuals have been allocated but do not pay the fee for using telecommunications numbering, the Department of Telecommunications will recover the telecommunications numbering allocated to SPT Company before March 31, 2024.

To ensure the legitimate rights and interests of enterprises and users of telecommunications services related to telecommunications services provided by SPT Company, the Department of Telecommunications informs customers who are using telecommunications services associated with telecommunications numbering (fixed-line phone numbers, 1800, 1900 numbers, etc.) provided by SPT Company to know and prepare alternative plans to avoid damage caused by the revocation of telecommunications numbering by enterprises.

SPT was established in 1995 with a charter capital of 50 billion VND. In 1996, SPT began providing postal services under the brand name Saigon Post, and in 1997 provided Internet services under the brand name SaigonNet.

SPT also owns the S-Fone network and is assigned the prefix 095. It was granted a license to establish a network and provide terrestrial mobile information services in April 2002.

S-Fone started providing services from July 1, 2003 and was the first CDMA voice service provider in Vietnam.

Lost 15.3 billion VND because of being tricked into installing fake public service application

On the evening of January 17, Hanoi City Police said that in January 2024, the Department of Cyber Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention received reports from 6 victims with a total amount of money stolen of nearly 20.6 billion.

In January 2024, the Department of Cyber Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention received reports from 6 victims with a total amount of money stolen of nearly 20.6 billion.

Of which, the person who was most deprived of 15.3 billion VND and the person who was least deprived of 252 million VND.

According to the police, many victims were asked by subjects impersonating police officers to help install fake public services containing malicious code that took control of the victims' phones, then transferred money from bank accounts and payment applications to appropriate it.

The subjects will guide people to install fake applications on their phones or access fake application installation links that look similar to public service portals.

The malware will be downloaded to the phone in parallel, allowing the subject to access the device to access data, take screenshots, read messages, and especially access rights to take control of the phone.

Taking control of the phone, the subjects stole the bank account login password and transaction OTP code, made money transfer orders, and appropriated property.

Vietnam joins the AI development race

Nikkei Asia newspaper commented that Vietnam has entered the race to develop general artificial intelligence programs serving local languages and cultures in Asia, with ViGTP - an AI program developed by VinBigData (VBD).

VinGroup has chosen to develop an independent version, with Vietnamese data to create AI with higher accuracy than foreign competitors.

The global market for synthetic AI is expanding 42% annually, according to estimates from Bloomberg Intelligence, and is expected to reach $1.3 trillion by 2032, about 32 times its $40 billion size in 2022.

Leading the way are US tech companies like OpenAI, Google and Amazon – tech giants with deep pockets and talent.

Despite intense competition, VinGroup chose to develop its own version, using Vietnamese data to create AI with higher accuracy than foreign competitors, said Vu Ha Van, a professor of mathematics at Yale University who serves as VBD's chief science officer.

To date, generative AI programs have been trained primarily on English data. That means there is relatively little data from Vietnam, reducing the accuracy of those programs when it comes to local culture, history, and laws.

ViGPT's large language model (LLM) is said to consist of 1.6 billion parameters, a few percent of the size of OpenAI's GPT-4.

More parameters usually equate to higher intelligence. But according to the general AI assessment customized for the Vietnamese market, ViGPT outperformed many foreign competitors and achieved a score second only to ChatGPT.

Impersonating authorities accounts for 9% of all phishing attacks

In a newly published report, Viettel Cyber Security experts pointed out that last year saw the rise of fake attacks on authorities in Vietnam, accounting for 9% of the total number of scam and fake attacks.

'Impersonating the police, prosecutors, and courts to make fraudulent phone calls' is one of the most common forms of online fraud in Vietnam's cyberspace. (Illustration: Internet)

Specifically, statistics from the Viettel Threat Intelligence system show that in 2023, nearly 5,900 phishing domains were detected, 1.3 times higher than in 2022 and 6.2 times higher than in 2020.

The newly published report by Viettel Cyber Security also shows that, in terms of sector, the finance - banking sector continues to be the top target of phishing and counterfeit attacks, accounting for 54% of the rate of phishing and counterfeit attacks. Next is the retail - e-commerce sector with 16%.

Notably, 2023 also saw the rise of fake government attacks in Vietnam, accounting for 9% of all phishing and spoofing attacks.

Experts predict that in the context of the widespread buying and selling of personal data in Vietnam, online fraud cases in cyberspace will continue to increase in 2024. Therefore, people need to be more vigilant to avoid becoming victims of fraudsters; regularly update and grasp information on cyberspace security issues.

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Vietnam has strategic relations with semiconductor powers

Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Huy Dung said that Vietnam's current unique feature is that it is the only country in the world that has strategic relationships with semiconductor powers, including emerging semiconductor powers.

Building a narrow virtual assistant to advise policy for 82,000 IT&TT workers

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Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/thu-hoi-dau-so-cua-spt-mat-15-3-ty-dong-vi-bi-lua-cai-ung-dung-gia-mao-2244587.html