Hanoi, October 22 (VNA) – Vietnam is a “shining example” in cybersecurity efforts and an ideal venue for opening the signature of the United Nations Convention against Cybercrime, called the Hanoi Convention, underlined Sudhanshu Mittal, head director for technical solutions at the National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) of India.

Speaking to the Vietnam News Agency’s correspondents in New Delhi, Mittal described the convention as the UN’s first global cybercrime treaty in nearly two decades, aimed at harmonising national laws, enhancing cross-border investigative cooperation, sharing electronic evidence, and providing mutual legal and technical assistance.

He sees the treaty as a major opportunity for countries like India to strengthen international collaboration, capacity building, and legal framework improvement.

The Indian official attributed the selection of Vietnam to host the opening ceremony to its active role in drafting the treaty, its robust legal framework exemplified by the 2018 Cybersecurity Law, effective enforcement, and highly skilled workforce. He noted Vietnam’s ranking among the top 20 countries in the 2024 Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI), with over 80% of the population engaged digitally. These factors, he said, position Vietnam as a perfect venue for this significant UN event.

Mittal noted that cybercrime has evolved beyond financially motivated individuals, fuelled by the rapid expansion of the digital economy. He identified emerging threats such as financial fraud targeting instant payment systems, social engineering scams like digital arrest (impersonating law enforcement forces to extort money), cross-border ransomware-as-a-service attacks, critical infrastructure assaults, enterprise supply chain intrusions, and the use of AI to generate misinformation and deepfakes affecting elections and public awareness.

Economically, cybercrime causes direct financial loss, disrupts business operations, harms corporate reputations, and raises legal and security costs. Socially, it erodes public trust in digital platforms,  especially among the elderly and vulnerable, and can trigger psychological distress when essential services like energy, health care, or telecommunications are attacked.

On India’s cybersecurity framework, Mittal highlighted the country’s comprehensive legal structures and strong public-private cooperation. Key initiatives include the Information Technology Act 2000, the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), the National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC), the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), and the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act 2023.

He emphasised the collaboration among the Indian Government, Nasscom, and the Data Security Council of India (DSCI) to build a secure digital ecosystem and drive innovation./.