Transnational cybercrime, technology-enabled fraud and emerging digital threats are posing increasingly complex challenges to economic and human security in Southeast Asia, requiring stronger governance frameworks, technological capabilities and regional cooperation. These issues were discussed at an international academic workshop hosted by the VNU University of Social Sciences and Humanities (VNU-USSH) on October 6, 2026.
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Organized by VNU-USSH’s Institute for Policy, Innovation and Interdisciplinary Science in collaboration with the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) Office in Vietnam, the workshop brought together more than 100 researchers, experts, lecturers and students from domestic and international institutions.
The event provided a platform for sharing research findings and exploring new policy approaches to non-traditional security challenges, particularly transnational organized cybercrime and its implications for economic security.
Transnational Cybercrime as a Governance Challenge
In his opening remarks, VNU-USSH Vice Rector Assoc. Prof. Bui Thanh Nam highlighted the growing complexity of non-traditional security threats across Southeast Asia. While digital technologies and artificial intelligence create new development opportunities, they also facilitate increasingly sophisticated forms of online fraud, human trafficking and cross-border criminal activities.
He emphasized the importance of comparative research into how Southeast Asian countries identify security risks, develop institutional responses and strengthen regional cooperation.
Prof. Detlef Briesen and Dr. Nguyen Thi Thuy Trang presented research examining the securitization of technology-enabled transnational fraud in four countries: the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Their findings indicated that digital fraud is increasingly linked to organized crime, money laundering, illicit financial flows and human trafficking. Although criminal networks operate across borders and digital platforms, law enforcement remains largely organized within national jurisdictions.
The researchers also highlighted the blurred distinction between victims and offenders, as individuals coerced into participating in online scam operations may simultaneously be victims of trafficking and participants in criminal activities.
Strengthening Policy Responses and Regional Cooperation
From a non-traditional security perspective, Assoc. Prof. Do Canh Thin, Deputy Director of the Institute for Non-Traditional Security at VNU’s School of Business and Management, warned that transnational digital fraud is evolving from a financial risk into a broader national security threat.
He identified major challenges involving AI-generated deepfakes, cryptocurrency-based money laundering, cross-border telecommunications networks and increasingly flexible criminal organizations.
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For Vietnam, he proposed a four-pillar response: strengthening legal and institutional frameworks; developing technological defenses using AI, big data and biometrics; expanding public-private cooperation; and improving citizens’ digital literacy and fraud awareness.
At the regional level, he recommended establishing an ASEAN rapid-response task force against digital fraud, developing real-time information-sharing mechanisms and accelerating cross-border cooperation in tracing and recovering illicit assets.
The workshop underscored that transnational cybercrime can no longer be addressed solely through criminal law or technological solutions. Effective responses require integrated governance, stronger institutional capacity, interdisciplinary research and practical cooperation among Southeast Asian countries.
By bringing together researchers and policy experts, the event contributed to advancing academic dialogue and identifying policy directions for addressing emerging non-traditional security threats in the region.
