The 13^th ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting on Trans-national Crime (SOMTC) is taking place at the Furama Resort Da Nang from 18 - 21 June.  A report by the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security showed that a number of foreign criminal gangs have exploited telecommunications networks and high-speed international transmission lines in order to commit many frauds and thefts in Viet Nam over recent years.

Since 2012, the number of cybercrimes has increased alarmingly, negatively affecting the country’s network security.  Many virus attacks, plus spyware and malware, aim to infringe copyrights, destroy databases, upload sensitive information onto the Internet, and disrupt the computer network.

Some of the delegates at the event (Source: VNA)

Vietnamese police officers have coordinated with others from Singapore, Japan, the USA, Russia, Canada and the ASEAN member countries through information exchanges aimed at fighting these hi-tech crimes.  Vietnamese relevant agencies have dealt with 261 cases which in total caused damage to the country estimated at over 2 trillion VND.

The Deputy Minister for Public Security, Mr Le Quy Vuong, said that at this year’s event the participants will discuss ways to prevent and combat such crimes as terrorism, human trafficking, piracy, trading in illicit arms and drugs, cybercrime, money laundering, hi-tech and international economic crime.  He also stressed the need for the ASEAN member countries to expand their cooperation in the fight against trans-national crimes.