More than 77,000 computers in Vietnam have suffered ransomware attacks since early this year, according to Bkav, a leading Vietnamese tech corporation specializing in cyber security and software.

The Technical Support Center at Bkav has received hundreds of calls seeking assistance in handling data encryption malware.

General Director of Bkav’s Malware Research Center, Nguyen Tien Dat, said the consequences of data encryption cases are often devastating because recovering data is almost impossible.

To avoid data encryption attacks, experts recommend that users and computer system administration teams regularly backup important data and install and update genuine anti-virus and malicious code detection software.

Vietnam suffered 57,389 ransomware attacks last year, the third-highest in Southeast Asia following Indonesia and Thailand.