Vietnamese servers suffered 9,964 attacks in the Jan-Sep period, the Vietnam Computer Emergency Response Team (VNCERT) has reported.

The compromises included 4,595 malware attacks, 3,607 defacingincidents and 1,762 phishing attempts, according to the cyber security body.

Malware attacks, in which hackers use malicious software to take control of victims’ computers, made up more than 46 percent of the total number of attacks.

VNCERT noted that 16 government-run websites using the ‘.gov.vn’ domain name had fallen victim to malware attacks but only two-thirds of the infected systems had since been fixed.

Twenty-one government websites were also defaced, or had their interfaces altered by hackers, however most of them had recovered.

VNCERT said that more than half of the victims of the phishing attacks, in which hackers attempt to obtain sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details by disguising themselves as trustworthy entities, had also secured their systems.

The computer emergency response team said that Vietnam’s Internet security is increasingly under threat as the amount of malware rises, with some of it able to bypass common antivirus platforms.

VNCERT also warned against the rise of ransomware, another type of malicious software that blocks access to, and threatens to destroy, victims' computers unless they pay a ransom.

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