Vietnam has a lot of work to do to make sure its cybersecurity infrastructure keeps up with its economic growth.
According to the latest version of the Global Security Index 2017 by the UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Vietnam ranks 101st out of 195 countries, a dismal result compared to regional neighbors such as Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.
The three aforementioned Southeast Asian countries claimed the 1st, 3rd and 20th spots, respectively.
The results were based on each nation's legal, technical and organizational institutions; educational and research capabilities; and their cooperation in information-sharing networks.
"Cybersecurity is an ecosystem where laws, organizations, skills, cooperation and technical implementation need to be in harmony to be most effective," ITU writes in the report.
Vietnam is currently one of Asia’s fastest-growing markets for internet-related services and social media. However, the country is a frequent victim of cyber-attacks by hackers from both inside and outside of its territory.
Last year, several Vietnamese airports were hijacked by Chinese hackers, causing massive delays. A recent security breach also put thousands of Vietnamese internet users at risk when some 66,000 thousand Facebook, Gmail and Yahoo accounts were stolen.
[Photo via Briandcolwell]
