Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc has asked the freshly-established Cyber Command to become a loyal, disciplined, intelligent, and clear-headed force which is strong enough to protect national sovereignty in cyberspace.

Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc speaks at a ceremony to announce the establishment of a new cyberspace command center in Hanoi on January 8, 2018. Photo: Tuoi Tre

With the rapid development of science technology and the Internet, alongside the growth of the fourth Industrial Revolution, cyberspace is becoming a new “territory” holding an important role in each country’s socio-economic development, defence, security and external relations, Phúc said at a ceremony in Hà Nội yesterday to announce the establishment of the command.

In modern warfare, cyberspace is considered the fifth combat environment which is connected closely with air, ground, sea and space combat. Therefore, cyber combat plays an important role in wars that use hi-tech weapons, he added.

The Government leader requested the Cyber Command to coordinate closely with relevant units such as the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Information and Communications to safeguard the military and defence information systems as well as the nation’s important data.

He urged the force to study and apply advanced science technology and military tactics in cyber combat, and learn from the world’s latest achievements in information technology and hi-tech weapons.

It is also essential to train competent personnel so as to promote human intelligence in controlling modern cyber weapons and step up international cooperation, he stressed.

He asked relevant units to quickly build projects to enhance cyberspace combat to submit to him for approval and implementation.

The Cyber Command is a unit of the Ministry of Defence and helps the ministry implement the State management function of safeguarding national sovereignty in cyberspace and information technology./.

VNF/VNS