Vietnamese Brokerage Experiences Cyber Attack, But Has No Impact On Financial Institutions

VNDirect, experienced a cyber attack that stopped its operations. (photo: x @satoshibacon)

JAKARTA - Vietnam's third-largest stock broker, VNDirect, experienced its first cyberattack last weekend. The company has been cut off from the trading system since Monday, March 25, and has not yet given an exact date when to resume its trading activities.

According to Pham Hong Son, deputy chairman of the Vietnam State Securities Commission (SSC), there is no risk of spreading this attack against other financial institutions. Although VNDirect is experiencing interference in its trading system, no impact has been felt on customer assets or data.

"We don't see the risk of spreading," said Pham Hong Son, vice chairman of the Vietnam State Securities Commission (SSC). He also added that no other brokers were affected.

VNDirect stated that the attack was carried out by an international organization and had made their trading platform inaccessible for the time being. Nonetheless, the company insists that customer assets and data remain secure.

Although transactions on the Ho Chi Minh City exchange experienced a 10% decrease in volume on Monday, and the benchmark index fell by 1.1%, the SSC stated that no additional action was required to reduce the impact of this attack on trading. Investors are urged to use accounts at other securities companies as long as VNDirect is still decoupled from the system.

Until now, VNDirect still has not commented on when they will continue their trading activities or how much harm they suffered as a result of the attack.

Cyberattacks against VNDirect have highlighted uncertainty and concerns in Vietnam's financial markets, although there has been no official comment from the SSC on the attacker's identity or motivation.

"Although there has been a significant increase in some stocks, the highlight of the day was a VNDirect cybersecurity breach, which hung a shadow on market sentiment," Mirae Asset Securities, another securities company, said in a note.