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First published by Ohmynews on 2007-08-29

Experts will discuss challenges and measures to boost Internet security

The Regional symposium on Internet Security Structure and Protection of Essential Infrastructure kicks off today in Hanoi, co-organized by International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the Ministry of Information and Communications of Vietnam.

During three-day meeting in Hanoi, there will be more than 40 presentations from international as well as Vietnamese IT experts. The presentations will focus on identifying potential challenges that Vietnam and other countries in the Asia Pacific region to face in the years to come; how to protect the essential infrastructure and discuss the role of different elements in ensuring the Internet security, including government officials, entrepreneurs, service providers and Internet users, etc.

On the sideline of the Symposium, quite a few bilateral meetings will also be held to exchange information and IT cooperation.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Information and Communications Vu Duc Dam highlighted the choice of Vietnam as the host country for the Symposium, saying it the “special interest” of ITU on the IT environment in Vietnam. “It also a signal that Vietnam is going the right way, though initial, towards the Internet security,” he said.

This is the first international Symposium on IT held in Vietnam since the Ministry of Information and Communications got its new name and at the time, Vietnamese Government are speeding up the e-government scheme, especially the computerizing administration for better handling of the administrative tasks due to much complain from its own citizens, businesses and foreign investors.

According to a recent report by ITU, Vietnam ranked second only to China in the IT growth rate in the world.

The e-commerce in Vietnam is still in its early stage, however Vietnamese Internet service providers and users as well as businesses are paying increasing attention to Internet security.

A recent report by MasterCard said, “Vietnam will become one of the 10 most attractive tourist destinations in the world and it will be the age of card services in the country.” However, along with the development of card services, hi-tech criminals will target Vietnam, the report also pointed out.