Vietnamese hackers allegedly steal 50,000 accounts — Talk Vietnam

Vietnamese hackers allegedly steal 50,000 accounts

March 16, 2015

More than 50,000 accounts of customers of Vietnam’s state-run telecom giant VNPT were stolen and leaked on the Internet over the weekend, company spokesperson Bui Quoc Viet said on March 15.

The accounts, including personal information and login credentials, belong to customers of the VNPT branch in the southern province of Soc Trang, Viet said.



“Hackers targeted the software used to look up customer information hosted on an old server that is being replaced at VNPT Soc Trang,” he elaborated.

Viet did not comment on the culprits behind the attack, even though Security Daily, a Vietnamese-language Internet security website, reported on Saturday that a hacker outfit called DIE Group has claimed responsibility.

It may be a Vietnamese hacker group, Security Daily said.

DIE Group has posted the stolen accounts on their Facebook page, saying they are from “more than 10,000 mobile phone and landline accounts of VNPT,” according to Security Daily.

The login section on the VNPT Soc Trang website is seen in this screenshot taken in Ho Chi Minh City on March 16, 2015.

Security Daily said on its website that the real number of stolen accounts could be as many as 50,000, which was later confirmed by the VNPT media person.

The stolen accounts include the name, address, phone number, username and password that can be used to log in to the customer service section on the VNPT Soc Trang website.

“Hackers can use such information to log in and launch other attacks using the authorized access,” Security Daily warned.

“The leaked information can be a gold mine to spammers and swindlers.”

VNIST JSC, the operator of Security Daily, said the incident suggests that there are dangerous security holes in the VNPT system, which makes it vulnerable to hackers.

“Thanks to such vulnerabilities, hackers may be able to steal most of the information, including the system administrative accounts, from VNPT databases,” the company said.

The vulnerability was fixed on Saturday, VNPT deputy general director Pham Duc Long told tech website ICTnews the same day.

“VNPT has strengthened security in its entire network to ensure customers that their private information is safe,” Long was quoted as saying.

The attackers said on Facebook that they had decided to leak the stolen information online after “receiving no response from VNPT about our discovery of their security holes.”

DIE Group, however, did not reveal the usernames and passwords of the stolen accounts for fear that they may be used by other hacker groups, according to their Facebook status.

VNPT, fully known as the Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group, is a telecommunications company owned by the Vietnamese government.

The Hanoi-based company boasts more than 60 million mobile phone subscribers, nearly 10 million landline phone subscribers and “dozens of millions of Internet users,” according to its website

Vietnamese hackers allegedly steal 50,000 accounts — Talk Vietnam

Sex clip in doubt

The public get indignant with sex clip distribution

VietNamNet Bridge - After a series of video clips featuring fights among schoolgirls, the online community has been surprised by sex clips of schoolgirls. This once again sounds the bell of disillusion of the indulgent lifestyle of a small part of the youth today.

On November 30 this year, the police of the northern port city of Haiphong announced to identify the couple in the sex clip that was posted on the Internet in late November.

The woman in the clip is determined as a 21-year-old girl in Kien Thuy district, Hai Phong. The girl graduated from the high school and did not have a job yet. The man in the clip is also 21 years old and also from Kien Thuy district. He is a student of a vocational high school in Hanoi.

Kien Thuy District Police questioned the couple for investigation. The two admitted themselves as the characters in the sex video.

They said they used to be classmates and loved each other. Both wanted to shoot the sex clip to celebrate their love. The clip was filmed by a mobile phone in the middle of June 2012, in the toilet on the second floor at the girl’s home.

The girl and her family sent a denunciation to the police of Kien Thuy District, claiming her privacy was being abused.

The boy said that someone stole the clip from his phone to post on the internet, adversely affecting the image of the couple.

Earlier, on October 10, 2012, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai High School in Mo Cay Nam district, Ben Tre province confirmed that its five students involved in a sex video that had caused a stir on the Internet.

The school expelled two students for a year, including the male student in the sex clip and a student who made the clip.

The school also expelled the female student in this clip for a week. The two students who watched the clip on the phone of the student who made the video and then gave it to other students had to serve a warning.

Earlier, on September 5, five students related to the case drank beer after the opening ceremony. After that two students had sex and was sneakily filmed by a schoolboy, who then showed the clip to two other students.

The clip was then transferred to two other students of Ca Van Thinh high school in Mo Cay Nam district. One of the two students, a 12th grader, posted it on the Internet, caused a stir in the public opinion.

Also recently, the online community was stirred when a sex video of a couple, given as students of a university in the Central Region was leaked. The 30-minute clip made viewers "shock" because of the boldness of the characters.

The incident once again sounds the bell of disillusion of the indulgent lifestyle of a small part of the youth today.

There are many other cases occurred this year.

Le Trong Hung, 17, in Ha Dong district, Hanoi had relationship with two 10th graders named Hue and Lan at the same time. Hung used to study in the same school with them but he dropped out.

Hue was jealous. She gave Hung her cell phone and asked him to videotape his sexual relations with Lan to spread to take revenge against Lan.

On April 11, Hung and Lan dated in a hostel and had sex. Hung filmed their sexual intercourse scenes and gave the 7-minute clip to Hue.  This girl then sent the clip to a number of fellow students and spread to other schools. The case quickly spread and was discovered shortly thereafter.

Ha Dong district police summoned Hung and Hue for investigation. Hung admitted to be more in love with Hue so he agreed to videotape his sexual relations with Lan and gave the clip to Hue.

Fortunately, the police quickly prevented the wide spread of the sex video.

In mid-October, a sensitive clip spread fast. The main character in the clip is said to be a 10th grader of a high school in Cau Giay district, Hanoi.

However, soon after netizens "vindicated" the reputation of Hanoi’s schoolgirls. She found out that the clip came from abroad, not Vietnam.

Compiled by Mai Lan

Free wireless Internet for Hue city | Look At Vietnam

Free wireless Internet for Hue city

June 20, 2012

LookAtVietnam – The authorities of the central province of Thua Thien – Hue has approved the plan to supply free wireless Internet service in the entire Hue city.

The plan will be implemented based on experience, learning from the similar plan that was successfully carried out in the ancient town of Hoi An.
In 2011, 22 broken phone boxes in Hue city were restored into free phone boxes where locals and tourists can make free urgent phone calls.
Early this year, Hoi An drew public attention when it became the first city in Vietnam and in Southeast Asia to offer free wireless internet in the whole city.
According to the local government, by the end of 2012, equipment would be installed completely in Hoi An and Cu Lao Cham Islet. At present, 50 out of the total 350 free wireless internet spots have been installed in central Hoi An.
With the free service, tourists can surf the web and check mail everywhere in the ancient town. If they want to use high speed Internet to listen to music and watch movies, they have to use internet cards supplied by the Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Group (VNPT).
After the first phase, VDC 3 will implement the second phase of the project to bring wireless internet to the remaining area in Hoi An and the surrounding area.
Mai Lan

University graduates carry rice, retail goods to bide their time | Look At Vietnam

University graduates carry rice, retail goods to bide their time

June 13, 2012

LookAtVietnam – Every year, Vietnam has thousands of students finishing
universities, and many of them become redundant. The race for looking for jobs
has become stiffer than ever, when a lot of businesses have got bankrupted.

What do bachelors do to earn their living?
Van’s bachelor’s degree has been lying in the drawer for more than one year. She
once felt so excited and happy on the day she received the degree and she kept
looking at it for hours on the first days after the graduation.
However, the bachelor has not helped Van find a good job. Van applied for
different jobs over the last year, but she was refused. Van has been working as
a receptionist, marketing officer and assistant to a tie shop owner at a market
to earn her living and waiting for the right moment.
“Some employers promised to contact me again after the interview. I many times
hoped that I could find a suitable job. However, I finally was not chosen,” she
complained.
Unemployment is the biggest threat to the new university graduates like Van.
They spend most of their time reading newspapers to seek job opportunities,
sending curriculum vitas to businesses and hoping. However, they understand that
there are not many opportunities for new graduates with no experience.
Nguyen Van Dat, who has finished the Hanoi Transport University, has been
working as a tinman to earn his living. His main work is binding iron wires
which are used to build the foundation or pillars of houses. Though he works
very hard, he can earn 50,000 dong a day.
Sometimes Dat sits idle because he is not hired by construction projects’
contractors. Therefore, he goes working on the rice field to assist his parents.
He spends evening to access to Internet to read newspapers and seek job
opportunities.
“The biggest barrier for new graduates is the lack of experiences. Meanwhile,
experience is the top requirement set by employers,” Dat said.
Continuing studying because of no job to do
A lot of students, who feel tired of looking for jobs, decide to continue
studying to get master degree, which they hope would help them find jobs more
easily.
Since the number of job candidates with university degree has been increasing
rapidly, new graduates believe that they should have many degrees in different
majors, or higher education degrees in order to have privileges over other
candidates. Therefore, they decide to take the entrance exams to the training
courses for master degree.
Nguyen Anh Tuan, a postgraduate of the Hanoi University for Social Sciences and
Humanity, said 60 percent of his classmates have not found jobs. Some of them
are running online fashion shops to earn their living. Meanwhile, many others
have decided to return to school to continue studying.
“It sounds good to follow higher education. However, in fact, we continue
studying just because we still cannot find jobs,” Tuan said.
A lot of graduates feel regret that they studied the finance and banking. This
was a very hot major some years ago. However, things have become quite
different. Therefore, many of them have to continue studying to obtain degrees
in other professions which promise more opportunities.
Nguyen Anh Duc, Deputy Director of CCIC, a construction consultancy and
investment company, said that a lot of students have been staying unemployed
because they did not receive good career guidance when they were at general
schools. Meanwhile, some of them believe that with university education, they
need to take important positions in businesses. Therefore, they feel discouraged
when they cannot fulfill their dream.
Thu Thao

New Internet draft decree favors foreign businesses | Look At Vietnam

New Internet draft decree favors foreign businesses

June 7, 2012

LookAtVietnam – Vietnamese Internet service providers have been crying
out about the draft new regulations which they believe would create an unleveled
playing field for domestic and foreign enterprises.

Le Hong Minh, General Director of VNG, said that some provisions of the draft
document remain unclear, while the new regulations do not set up a leveling
playing field for domestic and foreign enterprises.
The attempted regulations focus on tightening the control over domestic
enterprises in terms of the service content. Meanwhile, it does not clearly show
the policy on encouraging the investment to develop Internet in rural and remote
areas, or developing Vietnamese apps. It also does not mention the policies that
help encourage Vietnamese people use Internet.
While the draft decree tends to impose higher control over domestic Internet
enterprises, it seems to favor foreign enterprises.
In the initial version of the draft decree, foreign enterprises have to fulfill
some obligations in Vietnam. They have to establish representative offices or
obtain legal status in Vietnam and set up servers in Vietnam, or make written
commitments that the violation information will be erased and that Vietnamese
users cannot access to the violating information.
However, the latest draft of the decree has eased the duties foreign enterprises
have to do in Vietnam. Foreign investors can set up representative offices in
Vietnam or appoint Vietnamese individuals or institutions to represent them.
They can also join forces with relevant agencies and units to retract violating
information. The foreign service providers will have to provide information
about users when they are requested by the investigation bodies.
However, while Minh shows his dissatisfaction about the new regulation, some
analysts have said the draft decree compilers have made a right decision to ease
the obligations of foreign enterprises.
They said that if Vietnam imposes overly strict regulations, this may lead to
the fact that they would shut down their business in Vietnam. If so, Vietnamese
users would suffer. They would not be able to access foreign services, while
they are not satisfactory with the domestically provided services.
According to Do Ngoc Hung, Director of VOG, which is running Phunu.Net, a social
network, once the websites and foreign institutions providing services to
Vietnamese people, would have to follow procedures to obtain the licenses for
running e-information website or social network, and bear the inspection like
other domestic enterprises, once the services grow to a certain level.
The “certain level” can be defined by the state management agencies. For
example, the services have 1 million page views a month, or the enterprises
named in the periodic 6-month list released by the Ministry of Information and
Communication.
To date, the management, providing and use of Internet services and
e-information on Internet has been covered by the Decree No. 97 dated August 28,
2008. However, after four years of implementation, the decree has become
unsuitable to the new circumstances.
The Ministry of Information and Communication is drafting a new decree which is
expected to replace the decree 97, slated for submitting to the Prime Minister
in June 2012.
Minh of VNG said the draft decree points out the important goals for Vietnam in
the time to come, including the development of broadband Internet and the
application of Internet into the healthcare, education, science sectors.
Besides, the draft decree also comprises of the provisions which aim to keep a
tight control over the Internet service providing to prevent negative impacts of
Internet. Vietnam encourages the development of the domain name “.vn” and IPv6
addresses.
Do Ngoc Hung of VOG, while highly appreciating the draft decree, said that the
document shows the management agencies’ “open and friendly” viewpoint towards
the enterprises providing information services by facilitating the enterprises’
operation.
Source: Buu Dien

Most Vietnamese gov’t websites could collapse any time, survey | Look At Vietnam

Most Vietnamese gov’t websites could collapse any time, survey 

June 1, 2012

A recent survey found that 78 percent of Vietnamese government websites are vulnerable to cyber attacks, VietNamNet reported.
The statistic was reported by Internet security firm Vietnam Information Security Association during a conference on expanding the role of online government in Hanoi last Friday. 
The association team randomly tested 100 websites with the domain name .gov.vn. Nearly 3,700 security flaws were detected during the survey.
Around 58 percent of the sites showed “serious security weakness” and around 20 percent exhibited “high security weakness,” a representative from the association said.

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“Around 80 percent of the websites do not meet the minimum security requirements.
“Around 78 percent are susceptible to have their content altered or their operating engines collapse at anytime,” the representative said at the conference.
The Hanoi-based Internet security firm Bkav calculated that from the beginning of this year, six Vietnamese websites had been attacked every day.
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Vietnam's second satellite launched

Vietnam’s second satellite launched into the orbit

May 17, 2012

LookAtVietnam – An Ariane 5 missile brought Vietnam’s Vinasat-2 and Japan’s JCSAT-13 satellites into the orbit, from Kourou launching ground in Guyana.

Watching the launch at VNPT’ headquarters in Hanoi.

The 36-minute process of Ariane 5 and the two satellites successfully finished at 5.49am when Vinasat-2 split from the missile and moved to its position – 131.8o East on the orbit. Earlier, supported by two auxiliary missiles, Ariane 5 left the earth at 5.13am.
Within 30 seconds, two auxiliary missiles burnt more than 1,000 tons of fuel at the temperature of 3,000oC. After that, the two missiles separated from the major missile. Ariane 5 moved to the west and flew faster into the orbit.
At 5.16am, Ariane 5 went through the atmosphere and crossed the Atlantic Ocean within 20 minutes. In the western bank of Africa, JCSAT-13 split from the missile. Adriane 5 continued bringing Vinasat-2 to its position.
At 5.49am, Vinasat-2 split from the missile to its position. The launching was announced to be a success.

PM Nguyen Tan Dung congratulates VNPT on the successful launch.

Watching the launch at the headquarters of the Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) in Hanoi, PM Nguyen Tan Dung confirmed that the successful launching of Vinasat-2 is a significant event that marked a great move of Vietnam’s telecom industry.
Manufactured by Lockheed Martine from the US, VINASAT 2 is outfitted with Ku band transmission beams to blanket Southeast Asia and adjacent areas. The satellite weighs approximately 3 tons and has a lifespan of 15 years. The satellite will offer direct television broadcasting, telecommunications and Internet services.
Vinasat-2 project was implemented over two years, from October 2009, at total investment of $260-280 million. Earlier, Vinasat-1 was launched in April 2009. Both projects were invested by VNPT.
The launching process in pictures:

PV

New Internet policy aimed at socio-economic growth | Look At Vietnam

New Internet policy aimed at socio-economic growth

May 5, 2012

Le Nam Thang, deputy minister of Information and Communications, said Vietnam is developing a new Internet policy to replace the old one, keeping in mind the current situation in the country, and exploring the advantages of the Internet, curbing misuse and focused on socio-economic growth.

The deputy minister
stated this at a meeting to discuss ‘Influence of Internet on the
country’s economic growth’ organised by the Vietnam Club of Information
Technology Journalists with participation of leaders of the Ministry of
Information and Communications, Vietnam’s Internet Association and
international IT corporations such as Google, Intel and other domestic
enterprises.
At the meeting, the
US-based McKinsey & Company released its survey report ‘Online and
upcoming: Internet impact on developing countries.’
The Internet contributes to
9 per cent of Vietnam’s gross domestic product (GDP), which is the same
as Turkey and Morocco, according to a recent global survey.
The
contribution is driven by private consumption of Internet-related
products such as broadband and mobile Internet spending, cited the
survey.
Private consumption
accounts for some 2 per cent of Vietnam’s GDP but is offset by the
country’s large trade deficit in Internet-related goods and services.
The survey also pointed out
that the GDP contribution of the Internet in Vietnam is still lower
than the two per cent average for nine developing countries that the
company studied in detail.
However, Shaowei Ying,
associate principal in McKinsey’s Singapore office, told at the seminar
that the contribution will soon catch up with the average rate and
probably be able to reach 2.5 per cent in the near future.
On the other hand,
McKinsey’s survey found that e-commerce in Vietnam is still an untapped
market with high potential for growth. Shaowei Ying announced that
business effectiveness of small and medium enterprises has increased by
19.3 per cent thanks to utilization of Internet.
It said more than one-third
of Internet users have visited an online shopping or auction site.
Meanwhile, in another survey, 50 per cent of Internet users said they
believed that shopping online provides access to a wider range of
products.
Moreover, Vietnam’s
foundations for e-commerce activity are low in comparison with more
developed countries and regional averages, due to low online payment
enablement, McKinsey said in the survey.
Vietnam has 30 million
Internet users in Vietnam, accounting for 31 per cent of the population.
The blooming growth of telecommunications and Information technology in
the country has brought hopes of a breakthrough for Vietnam’s economy.
Ann Lavin, Head of the
Public Policy and Government Affairs, Southeast Asia at Google Asia
Pacific, said the real strength of internet in developing economy is in
small and medium enterprises. She added that Google will have a
discussion with Vietnam to assist such enterprises to participate in
international markets.
Vuong Quang Khai, director
of VNG, said during the past 10 years, digital content increased by over
50 per cent, a favourite condition to develop the digital content
industry, as more and more subscribers have paid to access or download
digital content.
However, it needs an
appropriate policy to manage it or else it will fall in the control of
foreign countries and affect national security, Khai said.
SGGP

Inner-network call package war anticipated | Look At Vietnam - Vietnam news daily update

Inner-network call package war anticipated

November 12, 2011 about Uncategorized

LookAtVietnam - Undercurrent waves have been raised on the telecom
market. Telcos rush to offer big preferences for inner-network call packages in
order to attract more subscribers.

Right after Beeline’s “billionaire package” finishes on October 31, VinaPhone,
one of the three biggest mobile network operators in Vietnam, launched the “10
minute call” package with attractive preferences, applied to all VinaPhone’s
MobiFone’s and VNPT’s fixed line subscribers.
A representative of VinaPhone revealed that the launching of the service package
aims to retain subscribers.
The “Beeline’s effect”
The “billionaire package” and the super-cheap mobile phones launched into the
market by Beeline in the period between September and October, proves to be the
biggest wave on the mobile telecom market so far this year.
The promotion campaign activated by Beeline once drew the special attention from
the public, and Beeline’s services have become the choice of many families and
offices.
Hoang Hai Yen, an officer of a media company in Dong Da district in Hanoi, said
that she has bought 120 Beeline super-cheap mobile phones and simcards for all
the members of the company and her family members. Previously, officers of the
company used services of different mobile network operators, while they now only
use Beeline’s services.
The works of a media company require the staff to communicate with each other
regularly. Yen said that in the past, she had to spend 300,000 dong a month on
call charges. But now she has to pay 20,000 dong only.
“It is clear that the Beeline’s package is much cheaper than that of other
network operators,” she said.
Yen has also purchased 5 Beeline’s mobile phones for her family, saying that
since the mobile phones were put into use, the mobile phones using Viettel’s or
MobiFone’s services have been put idle.
In general, when mobile network operators launch super cheap packages in sale
promotion campaigns, they mostly target general school and university students,
while the preferences are only applied for a certain short time. Therefore, when
promotion campaigns finish, people would leave the network operators for others
and shift to use other more attractive packages.
However, Beeline applied a special policy for its sale promotion campaign. It
offered “super-cheap” fees to the subscribers with the subscription prefixes of
0993 and 0995 for a long period of 10 years. By doing so, Beeline not only can
attract new more users, but also retain clients for at least 10 years.
It is clear that the package has changed the habit of using mobile phones for
communication and has created “Beeline offices”. It is very likely that the
clients using the “billionaire package” would become a loyal subscriber of
Beeline, if the quality of Beeline’s services is okay.
The war in inner-network call packages begins
Like Beeline, Vietnamobile is considered one of the small mobile networks in
Vietnam. The biggest success of the network operator is the launching of Maxi
Talk package into the market which has helped attract a big number of
subscribers.
Maxi Talk of Vietnamobile allows people to talk all the day long with just 5000
dong. Maxi Talk, the backbone of Vietnamobile got the title “the most excellent
package of 2010” granted by the Ministry of Information and Communication.
According to Elibabete Fong, General Director of Vietnamobile, thanks to Maxi
Talk, after one year, the mobile network operator has attracted millions more
subscribers, who are students and office workers. By January 2011, the network
had attracted 10 million subscribers.
Meanwhile, Beeline’s number of subscribers has increased by nearly 400 percent
just after 1.5 months after it launched the billionaire package.
Experts believe that inner-network calls will bring more opportunities to small
network operators, while they do not have advantages in inter-network calls,
because it still depends on connection fee policies applied by different network
operators.
Source: TBKTVN

More than 300 Vietnamese websites hacked in October | Look At Vietnam - Vietnam news daily update

More than 300 Vietnamese websites hacked in October

November 11, 2011 about Uncategorized

LookAtVietnam - At least 345
Vietnamese government and business websites were hacked during October,
according to recent statistics provided by the Ha Noi-based Bach Khoa Internet
Security Corporation (BKav).

Only nine cases
were conducted by domestic hackers, the rest came from abroad.

Also in
October, BKav said more than 3,500 new types of computer viruses appeared in Viet Nam,
infecting an estimated of 4.4 million computers, most notable was W32.Sality.PE.

Two popular websites, diadiem.com
and vozforums.com, recovered their domain names on Monday after
losing them to hackers at the end of last month.
VietNamNet/Viet
Nam
News



More than 300 Vietnamese websites hacked in October | Look At Vietnam - Vietnam news daily update

Travel firms step up sales via Internet

In economic difficulties, travel firms step up tour sales via Internet

September 6, 2011  about News, Travel

LookAtVietnam - Online marketing has been used by travel firms for a long
time. However, the firms have only paid special attention to the sale channel
recently, when tour fees prove to be an important competitiveness in the context
of economic downturn.

Since the beginning of the year, a series of travel firms have announced that
they have upgraded the remote payment system and that clients now can book tours
on their official websites.
The Hoa Binh Travel Firm, for example, has developed the online tourism tour
booking on peacetour.com.vn. The representative of the firm said that with the
friendly interface, the online tour booking system allows clients to save their
time, because clients can book tours even when they sit at home and click mouse
to the firm’s website. Especially, Hoa Binh has also developed the system which
allows travelers to foresee the destinations and book tours via mobile phones.
Vietravel has also been well known as the travel firm which has made heavy
investment in developing online booking via its website. Vietravel firm has
build up E-tour program with travel.com.vn website, which allows clients to
survey the tours and prices, and get detailed information about the tours,
including the departure time or schedules.
Most recently, Fiditour has become the pioneer in accepting payment through
e-wallets and online payment portals. The clients in Vietnam and around the
world can book tours on Fiditour’s website in different languages of Vietnamese,
English, French or Japanese.
Travelers can make payment through nganluong.vn with domestic credit cards,
while travelers in other countries or the ones using international credit cards
can make payment via Paypal.com. Especially, in case clients cancel tours, they
still can get money refunded.
Besides travel firms, tourism sites’ developers, resorts and hotels have also
pushed up the online marketing and payment.
Do Tuan Hung Manh, Managing Director of Mom Da Chim Resort, which has launched
an online marketing campaign, said that online channels can help enterprises
attract a lot of travelers. In the low season, where there are not many
travelers, travel firms still can attract travelers who can fill in the idle
rooms in the resort. Online channels also can help popularize tourism brands;
especially, they prove to be very useful for the less well known brands, because
they are not too costly while the efficiency is high.
Nguyen Hoa Binh, General Director of PeaceSoft, which has inked an agreement
with the international payment portal Paypal, believes that online payment
services in tourism will certainly develop well in the current difficult
circumstances. As travelers have to tighten their belt, they have to think
carefully when choosing tours and destinations. Therefore, the travel firms
which have good websites and good payment system would have advantages in
attracting clients.
According to Google, 98 percent of the clients who purchase tourism products in
Vietnam, search information online before they book tours, with 5-7 million
visitors to the tourism websites recorded for every month.
Also according to Binh, 80 percent of domestic travelers set up their tourism
plans via Internet. Before going traveling, they tend to search information
about the destinations, and try to find out which hotels offer the most
reasonable hotel room rates and other kinds of information.
It is expected that online payment would bring over 50 percent of turnover of
travel firms. Binh went on to say that remote sale surely can help travel firms
reduce the cost prices.
Nguyen Ngoc Dung, Chief Representative of the Southern Office of the Vietnam
E-commerce Association, said that more and more travel firms have cooperated
with e-wallet service providers to develop tourism.
However, it is still early to say about online tour booking as the most
important channel for tourism development in the future, because Vietnamese
travelers still fear that they cannot be served as advertised, while travel
firms fear about “virtual tour bookings”.
Source: Phap luat TP HCM

Vietnam has 25.8 million Internet users

By August 2010, Vietnam had 3.2 million new phone users, while Internet users reached 25.8 million, an increase of 18.3 percent year on year.

Good signals in broadband Internet market

Hanoi closes first Internet shop near school

Vietnamese most searched for “crack” on Internet

According to the General Statistics Office, of 33.2 million new phone users for the past eight months, there are 780,000 fixed phone subscribers, a drop of 30.1 percent year on year and 32.5 million mobile users, up 17.6 percent.

By the end of August, Vietnam has a total of 158.8 million phone subscribers, including 142.4 million mobile and 16.4 million fixed phone subscribers. The number of mobile phone users is eight folds more than fixed phone subscribers.

The number of Internet subscribers also reached 3.5 million, up 30.1 percent year on year. The number of Internet users is estimated at 25.8 million, growing by 18.3 percent.

PV

Vietnam in top ten of most dangerous places to surf Internet | Look At Vietnam

According to the latest survey by Australia-based AVG Internet security firm, Vietnam is among the top ten countries that are the least safe for Internet surfing. Bridge – According to the latest survey by Australia-based AVG Internet security firm, Vietnam is among the top ten countries that are the least safe for Internet surfing.

AVG looked at the number of Internet attacks worldwide for the final week of July 2010, as well as the number of AVG installations per country. From this, AVG was able to work out the probability of an average web surfer being attacked in a specific country. The research involved taking data from 127 million AVG installations across 144 countries.

Turkey tops the least with one out of every ten computers being attacked by a virus or malware (ratio 1/10). Other countries in the top ten are Russia (1/15), Armenia (1/24), Azerbaijan (1/39), Bangladesh (1/41), Vietnam and Laos (1/42), Portual (1/43), USA (1/48), Ukraine, Pakistan (1/48).

The ten safest countries for surfing the Internet are: Sierra Leone (1/696), Nigeria (1442), Japan (1/403), Togo (1/359), Namibia (1/353), Belize (1/302), Madagascar (1/283), Mozambique (1/264), Zambia (1/262) and Slovakia. What is the ratio for Slovakia?

“This research tells us a lot about the typical behavior of web surfers worldwide. Internet users in Turkey, Russia, and some Central Asian, the Caucasus, Southeast Asian, and Indian sub-continent states show disproportionately higher rates of being attacked than the global average of 1 in 73,” said AVG spokesperson, Roger Thomson.

“Our research should also serve as a wake-up call to people going abroad. Very often you may access your files on a computer that doesn’t belong to you, or you may access a shared network - neither of which incidentally are things we would ever recommend. In those cases, we would urge that web users exercise caution, not only when it comes to going online in our top 50 risk list, but in general.”

Globally, North America is the most dangerous region (1/73), followed by Europe (1/72), Asia (1/102), Africa (1/108), and South America (1/164).

PV

Internet Service Provider to interrupt connections in Cafes

The Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC) has told Internet Service Provider (ISP) to interrupt Internet connection to Internet cafes from 11pm to 6am as of September 1, 2010. Bridge – The Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC) has told Internet Service Provider (ISP) to interrupt Internet connection to Internet cafes from 11pm to 6am as of September 1, 2010.
At a meeting between MoIC, online game distributors and ISP on August 6, MoIC introduced five groups of solutions to deal with matters in controlling online games. The most notable measures include: halting Internet service at Internet cafes, end licensing new games from now to the year’s end and banning advertisements of online games.
Deputy Minister Do Quy Doan noted that these measures are “tough” and online game distributors and Internet cafes that violate regulations will be severely punished.
Luu Vu Hai from MoIC’s Radio Television Broadcast and Electronic Information Agency remarked: “We surveyed some Internet cafes and found out that these places were virtually unmanaged. They lent a hand to illegal games, which account for 30 percent of total games.”
VinaGame director Le Hong Minh noted: “We also want ISP to apply the measure of halting Internet connections to Internet cafes because these are places where many social problems occur. We also expect MoIC and the Radio Television Broadcast and Electronic Information Agency to take measures to control illegal online games.”

ISP supported MoIC’s instructions. Ho Phuoc Thuan, director of the Vietnam Data Communication Company (VDC) in the south, stated: “Cutting the Internet connection to Internet cafes is a difficult measure for our business. We need assistance from area government officials.”

Another ISP, FPT Telecom, suggested installing Internet management software at all Internet cafes.
Nguyen Hong Hai, chief of the MoIC’s Telecommunications Department, believed that if Internet cafes are well-controlled, problems associated with online games will drop.

PV

Vietnam listed among Top 20-internet users

 Along with six other Asian countries, Vietnam has been listed among the top 20 countries in the world with the highest numbers of Internet users.

The top 20 in the world with the highest numbers of Internet users.

This is the result of a survey by Pingdom, which provides website and server supervising services to worldwide organizations and businesses.

According to the survey, “Internet World Status”, though the world’s population exceeds six billion, only 1.8 billion people have Internet access and only 32 countries have over 10 million Internet users.

Notably, the top ten countries account for 65 percent of the world’s total number of Internet users, with 1.17 billion. The Top 20 countries make up 1.47 billion users, or 82 percent.

India ranks second for population in the world and fourth Internet users, but only 6.9 percent use the Internet.

China ranks top worldwide for population and Internet users. This country’s Internet user numbers is double that of the US. The total Internet users of China and the US account for over half of total users in the top 15 countries.

In the top 20 are mainly developed countries like the UK (82.5 percent of population having access to Internet), South Korea (81.1 percent), Germany (79.1 percent), Japan (78.2 percent) and the US (76.3 percent).

Africa also has one representative in the top 20 – Nigeria, which ranks tenth. Asia has six representatives, including Vietnam at 20^th, accounting for 35 percent of the world’s Internet users. Europe has five representatives, accounting for 25 percent.

Though English is the most used language on the Internet, there are only three English-speaking countries in the list: the US, the UK and Canada.

According to experts, India, China, Brazil, Vietnam, the Philippines and Russia are “fertile lands” for the development of Internet access in the next 5-10 years.

New Asian customer in spotlight at Web in Travel 2010

The new Asian customer and the way she plans, books and buys travel will be in the spotlight at this year’s Web In Travel conference taking place in Singapore in October.

“There is a new customer emerging in Asia,” said Yeoh Siew Hoon, owner of the conference.

“She is extremely value-conscious and tech-savvy in the way she seeks and accesses information on the web, comparing not only prices but also what other people are saying about a product or service.

“Game-changing gadgets such as the iPhone or the iPad, social networks such as Facebook and travel review sites such as TripAdvisor are just some of the factors that are influencing traveller behaviour across the region.

“We also have a very Internet-savvy and mobile-connected generation of customers emerging in Asia. In July, Asia became the largest producer of tweets on Twitter and some of Facebook’s biggest growth markets are found in the region.”

This, she said, explains why TripAdvisor, the biggest travel review site in the world, and Facebook are setting up regional headquarters in Singapore.

Social networking activity is on the rise in Asia, as tracked by comScore, the global company that gathers digital media intelligence, showing that 50.8 percent of the total online population in the Asia-Pacific region visited a social networking site in February 2010, reaching a total of 240.3 million visitors.

Brett Henry, vice president marketing, Abacus International, the travel technology company which processes most of the region’s air reservations, said, “The people going to social networks are no longer just the younger generation.

"Granted that in Asia, there is still a market for the 50s and above who are less Internet savvy and prefer to book offline. But if you project ahead, in a decade or less, the Internet and social media savvy Generation C will be ruling the world.”

In India, for instance, more than one-third of its total Internet population visit travel sites with comScore reporting that top online travel brands are seeing double and triple-digit growth as consumers take to the web in search of deals.

AirAsia’s Facebook fan page grew from zero members to more than 200,000 within a year and now stands at 339,009 members.

Said Kathleen Tan, regional head of commercial for the airline group which will fly its 100th million passenger by the fourth quarter of this year, “With an average of 6,500 fans and over 33,000 visits to our fan page weekly, we know that they are taking us seriously on the social media front.”

Said Yeoh, “Everyone recognises the huge travel demand there is in Asia, not only in the major population areas of China and India, but also across the whole of South-east and North Asia.

"People are travelling either for the first time, thanks to low cost airlines, or for the umpteenth time, and they are branching out to try new places. And they are being adventurous not only in where they travel to but how they plan and book their travels.”

In July as well, Google, which commanded 72 percent of the search market in the US in May 2010 (Experian Hitwise), paid US$700 million to acquire ITA Software, a company whose technology solution helps travellers search for air fares.

“This development which sees Google moving into the travel vertical can only benefit travellers as this will spur the industry to improve search and make it easier for us to look for the best air fares to anywhere,” said Yeoh.

It is against this backdrop that leading travel marketing and technology experts from around the world will gather at the Web In Travel conference to discuss and debate the latest customer trends emerging in Asia.

Represented on the speakers list are new brands such as TripAdvisor; travel.co.jp, the publicly-listed Japanese meta travel search site; koreahotels.com, the leading online hotel portal in South Korea; NileGuide, the US-based travel planning site; Holiday IQ, the India-based travel media site that’s expanding in South-east Asia; and Indonesia’s Mandala Airlines, which is launching international services to Singapore, Hong Kong and Macau soon.

Established online travel brands such as Wotif, ZUJI/Travelocity, Expedia and Hotels.com will also be represented, along with the leading players in search, revenue management, social media, branding, marketing and distribution.

“What we wanted to do this year was to widen our net to cover players who are making waves in Asia Pacific, international brands who are entering the region and emerging markets such as Indonesia and Korea,” said Yeoh.

Close to 60 speakers have been confirmed, with more likely to be added in the months to come.

Brand New Internet Call Center System for the Tourism Authority of Thailand

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has set up an Internet Call Center on the Official Website for Tourism in Thailand. The new internet system has completely transformed the way TAT helps their visitors by fully updating all users on the latest tourist information, as well as giving them a place to make any complaints if needed.

Los Angeles, CA (Vocus) January 7, 2010 -- The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has set up an Internet Call Center on the Official Website for Tourism in Thailand. The new internet system, launched on October 1, 2009, has completely transformed the way TAT helps their visitors by fully updating all users on the latest tourist information, as well as giving them a place to make any complaints if needed.

The system has already completely simplified visitor use, by making all services clearer and easier to use. It now offers a unique 24-hour service, allowing people from all around the globe to access the site and service at their convenience. Help is provided not only in Thai, but also in English, and can also be received in an innovative new method. Video Live Chat can be used during certain times, in order to provide instant answers for users who need their problems resolved faster. This new feature is already a proven hit, as many users have commented on the ease of use and speed of resolution they all experienced when using the site.

To access this service, all users have to do is visit the Tourism Authority of Thailand official website and click on the '1672 Tourist Hotline Video Call Center' button. After choosing preferred language, visitors will be redirected to a page where they can enter their details, such as name and email address, so they can be contacted if they are not using the Video Live Chat. Visitors then have the ability to pick a topic that their query falls under, i.e., Thailand accommodation, travelling, sightseeing, season or complaint, and can add a note as well.

The new service is already pulling in over 5,500 visitors after three months alone, and despite the availability of only two languages, visitors are coming from more than 40 countries across the globe – from the United States, India and Denmark to Australia, Italy and Argentina.

This means vacation planning will be easier when it comes to visiting Thailand. The new tourist information set-up allows people to make inquiries about a range of different concerns before they leave or even before they have booked the trip, ensuring they have knowledge on Thailand’s best hotels, beautiful attractions and much more. They can also gain vital information regarding how to get to certain places from the airport they may be landing at, making sure that getting lost becomes a thing of the past. It also eliminates concerns of language barriers, as all the help you need is in English.

If English is not your first language, help may soon be available to you according to the Deputy Governor for Marketing Communications, Mr. Suraphon Svetasreni. The Internet Call Center will be expanding over the next year as new languages will be added to make the service more widely available. TAT is promising almost any question visitors may have will be answered by the right people.

About the Tourism Authority of Thailand

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) was established in 1960 by the Royal Thai Government to be specifically responsible for tourism promotion. In 1965, TAT opened its first overseas office in New York. Since then, TAT has established 21 offices in different parts of the world including the Los Angeles office. TAT aims to provide the best Thailand travel information to the public and media members as well as work closely with our travel partners to develop new deals and packages.

###

Tourism Authority of Thailand
Fontip Seeboonruang
323-461-9814

Telephone, internet subscriptions surge sharply | Look At Vietnam

Telephone, internet subscriptions surge sharply | Look At Vietnam: "The number of telephone subscribers in Vietnam, a country of over 80 million-strong population, reached 130.4 million with an average of 152.5 sets of telephones for every 100 citizens.

The Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC) reported on December 30 that of the figure, 85 percent are mobile phone subscribers, representing a 152 percent increase year on year.

The Internet subscription has also surged sharply to 26.2 percent of the national population.

The industry has therefore posted a revenue of US$6.26 billion for 2009 amidst the global economic meltdown.

The telecom enterprises reportedly invested some VND60 trillion in infrastructure facilities.

MIC Deputy Minister Tran Duc Lai, however, admitted that the gap between urban and rural areas remains large and quality of services still lags behind quantity.

VietNamNet/VOV"

China Locks Down Restive Region After Deadly Clashes

URUMQI, China — The Chinese government locked down this regional capital of 2.3 million people and other cities across its western desert region on Monday and early Tuesday, imposing curfews, cutting off cellphone and Internet services and sending armed police officers into neighborhoods after clashes erupted here on Sunday evening between Muslim Uighurs and Han Chinese. The fighting left at least 156 people dead and more than 1,000 injured, according to the state news agency.

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Deadly Riots in Urumqi

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Times Topics: Uighurs

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Nir Elias/Reuters

People who were injured in ethnic riots rested in a city hospital on Monday during a government tour for the media. More Photos »

But hundreds of Uighur protesters defied the police again on Tuesday morning, crashing a state-run tour of the riot scene for foreign and Chinese journalists. A wailing crowd of women, joined later by scores of Uighur men, marched down a wide avenue with raised fists and tearfully demanded that the police release Uighur men who they said had been seized from their homes after the violence. Some women waved the identification cards of men who had been detained.

As journalists watched, the demonstrators smashed the windshield of a police car and several police officers drew their pistols before the entire crowd was encircled by officers and paramilitary troops in riot gear.

“A lot of ordinary people were taken away by the police,” a protester named Qimanguili, a 13-year-old girl clad in a white T-shirt and a black headscarf, said, crying. She said her 19-year-old brother had been taken away by police officers on Monday, long after the riots had ended.

The confrontation later ebbed to a tense standoff between about 100 protesters, mostly women, some carrying infants, and riot police in black body armor and helmets, tear-gas launchers at the ready, in a Uighur neighborhood pocked with burned-out homes and an automobile sales lot torched during the Sunday riots.

The fighting on Sunday was the deadliest episode of ethnic violence in China in decades. The bloodshed here, along with the Tibetan uprising last year, shows the extent of racial hostility that still pervades much of western China, fueled partly by economic disparity and by government attempts to restrict religious and political activity by minority groups.

The rioting, which began as a peaceful protest calling for a full government inquiry into an earlier brawl between Uighurs and Han Chinese at a factory in southern China, took place in the heart of Xinjiang, an oil-rich desert region where Uighurs are the largest ethnic group but are ruled by the Han, the dominant ethnic group in the country.

Protests spread Monday to the heavily guarded town of Kashgar, on China’s western border, as 200 to 300 people chanting “God is great” and “Release the people” confronted riot police officers about 5:30 p.m. in front of the city’s yellow-walled Id Kah Mosque, the largest mosque in China. They quickly dispersed when officers began arresting people, one resident said.

Internet social platforms and chat programs appeared to have unified Uighurs in anger over the way Chinese officials had handled the earlier brawl, which took place in late June thousands of miles away in Shaoguan, Guangdong Province. There, Han workers rampaged through a Uighur dormitory, killing at least two Uighurs and injuring many others, according to the state news agency, Xinhua. Police officers later arrested a resentful former factory worker who had ignited the fight by spreading a rumor that six Uighur men had raped two Han women at the site, Xinhua reported.

But photographs that appeared online after the battle showed people standing around a pile of corpses, leading many Uighurs to believe that the government was playing down the number of dead Uighurs. One Uighur student said the photographs began showing up on many Web sites about one week ago. Government censors repeatedly tried to delete them, but to no avail, he said.

“Uighurs posted it again and again in order to let more people know the truth, because how painful is it that the government does bald-faced injustice to Uighur people?” said the student, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution from the government.

A call for protests spread on Web sites and QQ, the most popular instant-messaging program in China, despite government efforts to block online discussion of the feud.

By Tuesday morning, more than 36 hours after the start of the protest, the police had detained more than 1,400 suspects, according to Xinhua. More than 200 shops and 14 homes had been destroyed in Urumqi, and 261 motor vehicles, mostly buses, had been burned, Xinhua reported, citing Liu Yaohua, the regional police chief.

Police officers operated checkpoints on roads throughout Xinjiang on Monday. People at major hotels said they had no Internet access. Most people in the city could not use cellphones.

At the local airport, five scrawny, young men wearing black, bulletproof vests and helmets stood outside the terminal, holding batons. The roadways leading into the city center were empty early on Tuesday, except for parked squad cars and clusters of armored personnel carriers and olive military trucks brimming with paramilitary troops. An all-night curfew had been imposed.Michael Wines, Jonathan Ansfield and Xiyun Yang contributed reporting from Beijing, and David Barboza from Shanghai. Huang Yuanxi contributed research from Beijing, and Chen Yang from Shanghi

China Pulls the Plug on YouTube...Again - - Digital Trends

China claims it is "not afraid of the Internet," but the country's regime has pulled the plug on video sharing site YouTube yet again.


Last month, the Chinese government blocked access to video-sharing Web site YouTube because the site played hosts to videos of protests in Tibet, including riots in the Tibetan capital of Llasa. Now, China has blocked access to YouTube yet again, apparently because the site contains videos of Chinese soldiers beating Tibetans, includign monks. Videos from Reuters and other sources show footage of Chinese soldiers and paramilitary groups arresting and beating Tibetan protesters, although much of the footage lacks dates and locations.

A Chinese government spokesperson refused to confirm to the BBC whether YouTube had been blocked, but independent sources indicate YouTube is again inaccessible in mainland China.

China invaded Tibet in 1950, and contends it has dealt "lawfully" with repeated Tibetan protests of Chinese rule.