Vietnam is among countries most vulnerable to internet attacks, with 40 percent of websites containing security loopholes, according to the research by the country's top internet security firm, BKAV.

The research, carried out from October 2013 to February 2014 by BKAV's WebScan machines, checked website security in more than 25 countries, reported local Vietnam News daily Thursday.

Results revealed that, while 40 percent of websites in Vietnam have security loopholes, the figure in Asian countries is 36 percent, European countries with 15 percent, American and African countries with 5 percent and 33 percent, respectively.

Of note, the firm named several types of popular security loopholes, including XXS, SQL, Injection, and Directory Listings.

Ngo Tuan Anh, the deputy director of the firm's Internet security division, said government agencies and computer users to strengthen internet and website security to reduce potential risks, and it is necessary to set aside from 5 percent to 10 percent of budgets for internet security in each IT project.

Meanwhile, according to the Vietnam Computer Emergency Response Team, 64 percent of agencies were unable to estimate financial losses resulting from attacks.

In addition, 78 out of 100 websites with the government domain "gov.vn" had been reported to have "seriously" poor security systems.

BKAV warned spyware, malware and DDoS (distributed denial of service) attacks will continue to pose major risks in 2014.