In late October 2025, at the DISSC headquarters, Ms. Phan Thi My Hau, Director of VNETWORK Joint Stock Company, and Mr. Vo Duc Anh, Deputy Director of DISSC, signed a comprehensive cooperation agreement aimed at protecting the digital infrastructure of the Da Nang startup community.
The agreement defines three focus areas: connecting and strengthening the capacity of the innovation ecosystem; jointly deploying digital infrastructure, information security and cybersecurity solutions; and supporting the city in organizing its startup programs and events.
This program of 2,000 website security packages belongs to the second area. After surveying the real needs of incubation projects and startups in Da Nang, the two parties found that the biggest barrier lies not in awareness but in resources: many teams understand clearly that they need to protect their website, yet the cost of a professional security solution exceeds the budget of an early stage company. Instead of stopping at consulting and training, the two parties therefore decided to place the solution directly in the hands of businesses.
Hundreds of incubation projects and startups in Da Nang are at the stage of putting every resource into the product and the first customers. Websites go live quickly so the business can reach the market on time, while the protective layer behind them is usually pushed to the bottom of the priority list.
Meanwhile, risk waits for no one. Statistics from the Ministry of Public Security record losses caused by cyberattacks between 2020 and 2025 of nearly VND 40,000 billion. In 2025 alone, the systems of VNETWORK recorded more than 2.3 million attack events.
The idea that “we are too small for anyone to notice” is outdated. Attackers release automated scanning tools that sweep across cyberspace, and those tools pay no attention to company size; they simply stop wherever the defenses are weakest. Because their layer of protection is thin, startups are often where attackers concentrate their efforts. A large corporation can absorb a few hours of disruption, whereas for a newly launched startup a single data leak or website outage is enough to destroy trust and forfeit access to the first group of customers, the ones hardest to win and hardest to replace.
Mr. Vo Duc Anh, Deputy Director of DISSC, said at the signing ceremony: “When startups feel assured that their data and online services are protected, they will innovate, expand and attract investment far more boldly”.
Beyond the technical dimension, businesses also face pressure from a legal framework that keeps tightening. Under the Appendix issued together with Circular 12/2022/TT-BTTTT guiding Decree 85/2016/ND-CP, level 2 information systems as defined in Clause 2, Article 8 of Decree 85/2016/ND-CP, or systems at level 3 and above, are required to use a web application firewall product. Moving into 2026, the Law on Personal Data Protection No. 91/2025/QH15 raises the bar further, obliging every organization that processes user data to apply technical measures against unauthorized access and data leakage.
WAF Free is a web application firewall (WAF) developed by our own engineering team. It operates as a control point placed in front of the website, inspecting every request before traffic reaches the business server.
This is not a “trimmed down” edition of lower quality. WAF Free inherits in full the infrastructure and core technology of the VNETWORK WAAP (Web Application and API Protection) platform, packaged in a streamlined form so that any business can deploy it right away at no cost.
Read more: Top WAAP solutions for businesses in 2026.
Key capabilities include:
• Protection against vulnerability exploitation listed in the OWASP Top 10, such as SQL Injection, XSS, Broken Access Control and more.
• Protection against denial of service (DDoS) attacks at both the network infrastructure layer and the web application layer.
• Website acceleration through a CDN system that shortens page load time for users in Vietnam and abroad, while also distributing attack traffic.
• Straightforward monitoring through a dashboard that tracks incoming traffic in real time.
• Comprehensive support with Vietnamese technical documentation and a continuously available consulting ticket system.
• An unlimited usage term.
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Under the agreement between VNETWORK and DISSC, the website security package is only one part of a broader set of activities supporting the city startup community. The program also carries exclusive benefits available only within the 2,000 packages granted through DISSC:
• Personalized security consulting that helps each business identify the protection model matching its stage of growth and the specific nature of its product.
• Workshops and information security training programs for the technical teams of startups, incubators and universities across the ecosystem.
• Continuous technical support from the VNETWORK SOC team, experts who know the domestic network environment and stay involved from the very first setup step.
This approach stems from a clear intent: business websites should be genuinely protected to the right standard, rather than the program stopping at a count of activated accounts.
Press coverage of WAF Free:
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The Da Nang Innovation and Startup Support Center (DISSC) is a public service unit under the Da Nang Department of Science and Technology. It supports the implementation of innovation and startup activities, handles science and technology information and statistics, and manages and operates the city startup working and training space.
The strength of DISSC comes from its role as the focal point for developing the Da Nang innovation and startup ecosystem, together with its network of experts, mentors and angel investors in Vietnam and abroad. The center delivers training and coaching, assists with legal procedures, prototype testing and product development, and connects startups with funding. It also operates Startup Hub and Startup Space, and regularly hosts the Innovation and Startup Festival along with many other events, workshops and competitions for the city startup community.
Website: https://startupdanang.vn/
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The program of 2,000 website security packages marks the shift from a written commitment to a measurable outcome in the cooperation between VNETWORK and DISSC. With the cost barrier and the technical barrier both lowered, startup teams in Da Nang can direct their resources to what matters most, building the product, instead of worrying about the layer of defense behind it.
This is also one piece of the roadmap that positions Da Nang as a leading innovation hub in the region, a place where data safety is treated as a foundation rather than an optional extra. VNETWORK warmly invites the business community to register for the sponsored packages.