Vietnam Post hit by ransomware attack

At 03:10 am on June 4, Vietnam Post was illegally attacked by ransomware which directly affected the company's operations.

Online sellers complained that they couldn't create orders or use services on the Vietnam Post app. The company's website was also inaccessible.

"Postal finance, public administration, and goods distribution services are still operating normally at this time," the company said in a statement.

When the incident was detected, Vietnam Post took emergency action and closely followed protocol set by the Authority of Information Security under the Ministry of Information and Communications. Specifically, the company disconnected its IT systems to isolate problems and protect data, leading to a temporary interruption on its websites and applications while the problem was fixed.

"Vietnam Post is working with authorities and coordinating with leading IT corporations to fix these problems as soon as possible," the company added.

VNDirect Securities Corporation and PetroVietnam Oil Corporation (PVOIL) were also hit by ransomware attacks in late March and early April. For these attacks, experts said hackers had been lurking in the systems for a long time. They found important data, encrypted it, and then asked their victims to pay a ransom to unlock it.

As cybersecurity threats rise, it will require a concentrated effort to address and narrow Vietnam's current cybersecurity talent gap.

The online securities trading system at VNDirect Securities Company (VNDirect) is likely to have suffered from a data encryption hack for extortion.

Cybersecurity has gained more attention during the annual general meeting season following the surge in ransomware attacks in the first quarter of 2024.