In late September, an inspector team with members coming from the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism (MOCST) and the Department for High-Tech Crime Prevention (C50) conducted a sudden incursion and found that some major enterprises in Ho Chi Minh City and several southern locations had seriously violated intellectual property law.

Among the violators were Ho Chi Minh City-based Anh Duong Company Limited, known for famous Vinasun taxi trademark; Bien Hoa Sugar Company, based in Dong Nai Province’s Bien Hoa 1 Industrial Zone; and Saigon-My Xuan Paper Corporation, based in My Xuan A Industrial Zone in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau.

At the headquarters of those enterprises, the authorities discovered a big quantity of Microsoft software which had been used without authorisation, besides to diverse other software copies like AutoCAD, Adobe and more.

The above-mentioned violators- Vinasun, Bien Hoa Sugar and Saigon Paper- are leading businesses in their field. IP violation like this would have negative impacts on their performance and reputation.

Besides, in light of  Decree 99/2013/ND-CP regulating sanctions against industrial property infringements which took effect from October 2013,  violating companies can be subject to a maximum fine of VND500 million ($23,800).

According to recent studies, piracy is known to be one of key sources of malware and viruses that hackers used to exploit vulnerabilities or set malwares to penetrate systems which could lead to outages, system destruction and data losses.

Within one week, from late August to early September, the Vietnam Computer Emergency Response Team (VNCERT under the Ministry of Information & Communications), had recorded cyber-attacks against more than 700 websites in Vietnam.

VNCERT director Vu Quoc Khanh said, “During these attacks, VNCERT found a typical case, hackers exploited breaches of a single weak server to penetrate and change content of hundreds other websites on that same server, which severely impacted to information safety, security. VNCERT then warns users and web-hosters to consider authorised software and regularly, timely update patches to minimise potential risks.”

“Enterprises must be aware of genuine software utility since authorised software better protect their information. Besides, using genuine software is crucial to push the ICT development and contribute to national economic growth,” said Vu Xuan Thanh, chief inspector of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

“In the upcoming time, we shall coordinate with legal software owners to strengthen inspection solving authorised software owners’ petition to raise awareness of enterprises for use of genuine software,” Thanh asserted.

A recent study by the International Data Corporation and the National University of Singapore shows that the costs related to outages and security issue could cost corporations hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.

Furthermore, only authorised software offers added value to users through technical support, product upgrades, added security, as well as cost and time saving.

Source: VIR/VNN