In Vietnam, '123456' remains password for nearly 1.9 million bank accounts

The figures were released at the Vietnam Digital Financial Security Forum 2026, organized by the National Cybersecurity Association and Vietnam Investment Media Group, with coordination from the State Bank of Vietnam and the Vietnam Banks Association.

Cybercriminals use AI to identify vulnerabilities and target bank accounts

Colonel Nguyen Ba Son, deputy director of the Department of Cybersecurity and High-Tech Crime Prevention (A05), said authorities recorded more than 500,000 cyberattacks against information systems in 2025, particularly critical national information systems.

He said financial and banking systems were among the main targets of international hacker groups and cybercriminals.

Authorities also recorded nearly 1,000 online fraud cases involving property appropriation in the first six months of 2026, with losses totaling trillions of Vietnamese dong.

Son attributed the growing cybersecurity risks partly to criminals' increasing use of new technologies, particularly artificial intelligence (AI).

He said hackers previously needed months to penetrate and examine large-scale financial and banking information systems, but AI had significantly shortened the time required to identify vulnerabilities and develop attack plans.

Common methods include ransomware attacks that encrypt data to demand ransom payments and the spread of false information to disrupt financial and banking operations.

Criminals also exploit weaknesses in the provision and use of payment services.

Son cited a case uncovered last year in which a suspect posed as an employee at upscale restaurants to steal bank card information.

The suspect secretly removed chips from customers' physical bank cards when they handed them to restaurant staff for payment, transferred the chips to other card blanks and used the cards to make purchases at payment-acceptance locations.

The suspect bought several latest-generation iPhones through this method, stealing more than VND200 million (US$7,700).

Following the discovery, authorities coordinated with the State Bank of Vietnam to notify commercial banks and request reviews and adjustments to their chip-based physical card services.

Financial security extends beyond vaults, safes and ATMs

Dr. Dao Minh Tu, vice-chairman and secretary-general of the Vietnam Banks Association and former permanent deputy governor of the State Bank of Vietnam, said banking services were shifting from customer-operated applications to systems capable of communicating with and automatically assisting customers.

He said AI was playing an increasingly significant role in financial and banking operations.

Around 80 percent of Vietnamese businesses have adopted AI, while more than 70 percent of credit institutions use the technology for credit scoring, electronic identification, fraud detection and anti-money laundering, according to figures presented at the forum.

Quantum technology could solve certain problems that conventional computers cannot process within a reasonable timeframe.

Still, technological advances also create new cybersecurity risks.

Vice-chairman Tu said high-tech criminals were using increasingly sophisticated and organized methods and operating across national borders.

They can use AI to create fake images and voices through deepfake technology, identify system vulnerabilities automatically and develop fraud scenarios to manipulate victims into transferring money.

Vietnam recorded approximately 552,000 cyberattacks in 2025, according to a report by the National Cybersecurity Association and Viettel Cyber Security.

The report also found that 52.3 percent of agencies and businesses suffered damage from cyberattacks, while around 41 percent of the attacks targeted the financial and banking sector.

Human factors remain a major cybersecurity weakness, with nearly 1.9 million Vietnamese accounts still using simple passwords such as '123456'.

Only 36 percent of respondents expressed concern about deepfakes, the lowest proportion among the cybersecurity risks covered by the survey.

Businesses also face challenges in preparing for AI adoption.

According to Cisco's AI Readiness Index, only 13 percent of Vietnamese businesses were fully prepared to adopt AI.

Meanwhile, 63 percent of businesses identified improvements to the scalability and flexibility of their information technology infrastructure as their top priority.

Weak data governance also increases the risk of exposing internal information and sensitive customer data.

He warned that quantum computers could threaten conventional encryption standards used to protect payment transactions, digital signatures and banking data.

Financial security in the digital age required more than protecting cash vaults, safes and ATMs, emphasizing the need to safeguard digital sovereignty and public trust in digital services.

He proposed stricter protection of banking data, personal information and biometric data under the Law on Data and the Law on Personal Data Protection.

He also called for important data to be stored and processed at secure data centers in Vietnam.