Computer viruses cost Vietnam $1 bln in 2020: Bkav

The losses were calculated based on users’ income and the amount of time interrupted due to the activities of computer viruses. Specifically, computer users in Vietnam lost about VND1.59 million on average last year due to viruses. Multiplied the figure with at least 15 million computers active in Vietnam, over $1 billion was lost in total, the firm said.

Several e-commerce platforms were the target of attacks last year, resulting in users’ data being stolen. Social media sites like Facebook were no exception, with around 300,000 personal data profiles of Vietnamese, including full names, addresses and phone numbers, found on sale on a cyberhacking forum earlier this month.

Hundreds of billions of dong were stolen by hackers through compromising banks' cybersecurity systems, including by tricking users into installing spyware on their phones and stealing their OTP numbers.

Bkav discovered over 15,000 types of spyware infecting thousands of phones last year.

It recorded cyberattacks on "important institutions, organizations" through supply chain attacks last December.

It described the attack method as a new trend in which hackers do not target end users but software producers instead, allowing malware to spread to devices as they download applications and patches from compromised manufacturers.

Globally, cyberattacks thrived last year thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, which forced businesses and organizations to employ remote working through the Internet.

Thanks to the increased online activity, hackers could find more opportunities to steal data.

While Vietnam has managed to avoid the worst impacts of the pandemic thanks to its excellent Covid-19 control, remote working and other online activities are here to stay and would thrive even more in future, Bkav forecast.

So users should always stay vigilant against cybersecurity threats, it warned.