According to Director Nguyen Son Hai of Viettel Cyber Security, AI is a double-edged sword. While it enables faster and more accurate threat prediction, detection, and response, it is also being effectively weaponized by cybercriminals.
Statistics from Viettel Threat Intelligence reveals a grim picture for the first half of 2025 in Vietnam alone. Over 8.5 million accounts were compromised, nearly 530,000 Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks were launched, and 191 data breaches exposed over 3 billion records, a threefold increase compared to the same period in 2024.
Particularly alarming is the rise of AI-driven attack vectors. These range from hyper-personalized phishing emails and convincing deepfake videos to polymorphic malware that can constantly alter its code, presenting a formidable challenge to traditional defense systems.
There’s a clear trend emerging. As digital financial transactions boom worldwide, cybercriminals have pivoted their focus to mobile devices and cryptocurrencies. A Kaspersky report from late April 2025 found that the number of users targeted by mobile banking malware had surged by 3.6 times compared to 2023, while cryptocurrency scams skyrocketed by 83.4 percent.
Armed with stolen data, cyber-attackers then lure victims to meticulously crafted fake websites that mimic well-known brands and financial institutions. The banking sector has become the prime target, accounting for 42.6 percent of all financial phishing attempts.
“We anticipate that financial scams will become increasingly personalized and targeted”, commented Olga Svistunova, a senior web content analyst at Kaspersky. “They will focus on exploiting loopholes in our daily tech habits, which demands that users become far more watchful.”
The threat is tangible. “We need to view data security from multiple angles”, noted Chief Science Officer Nguyen Hong Phuc at Conductify AI. “Recently, we’ve seen crime syndicates openly selling financial data packs. A prime example is the hacker group ShinyHunters, which offered a dataset containing credit payment information and risk analysis for US$175,000. This kind of data, namely transaction histories, credit scores, account balances, can be easily weaponized for sophisticated fraud.”
The technological horizon presents an even more profound challenge: quantum computing. The Asia-Pacific (APAC) region is a fertile ground for its development, and its rise will have seismic effects on data security.
Experts agree that quantum computing represents both a monumental opportunity and an existential threat. On the one hand, a quantum computer possesses the power to shatter many of today’s encryption standards. On the other, it holds the key to how Internet users will secure their digital world in the future.
“The APAC quantum computing market is on a steep growth trajectory, projected to expand from $392.1 million in 2024 to $1.78 billion by 2032”, said Sergey Lozhkin, a lead researcher at Kaspersky. “This is an exciting, yet deeply concerning, development. Quantum computing is the next cybersecurity frontline. While it promises breakthrough innovations, it also ushers in a new age of cyber threats.”
Quantum computers could compromise the traditional encryption that protects countless digital systems at present, posing a direct threat to global security infrastructure. They could decrypt sensitive data in real-time, rendering private communications completely transparent to malicious actors.
“Looking ahead, we can anticipate the emergence of ‘quantum-resistant’ ransomware”, Mr. Lozhkin warned. “This malware would be designed to be unbreakable by conventional means, leaving victims with no choice but to pay. The security decisions we make today will determine the resilience of our digital infrastructure for decades. Governments and businesses must act now to adapt, or risk facing irreparable vulnerabilities down the road.”
Experts in the cybersecurity field urge a fundamental shift in mindset from passive to proactive defense. A key solution being championed is the transition from traditional Security Operations Centers (SOCs) to a Cloud-Native AI-Driven Response (CNADR) model. In this new paradigm, AI is placed at the very core of security operations to optimize risk management and safeguard the digital frontier.
