VNeID will become a "super app
At Program No. 02 on the 2026 Work Program of the Central Steering Committee for Science, Technology Development, Innovation and Digital Transformation, the Ministry of Public Security is assigned the task of presiding over and coordinating with relevant ministries, branches, and localities to advise and submit to the Government for promulgation a Government resolution on the development of digital citizens, to be completed in February 2026.
In the draft Resolution on citizen development, the Ministry of Public Security proposed expanding VNeID to become a "super application" with unlimited utilities, including providing national e-wallets and digital payment services, providing safe personal digital signatures, providing personal data warehouses, providing official email addresses for each citizen, and developing social networks (SNSs).
According to the draft submission, the Ministry of Public Security emphasizes that social networks developed by private enterprises are currently generating a situation of virtual accounts, fake news, and fraud. At the same time, the State also lacks a legitimate, two-way communication channel to communicate policies and listen to feedback.
Therefore, the Ministry of Public Security affirms that the construction and development of the national identification application VNeID is a "super application" aimed at creating a SNS where 100% of users are absolutely verified (through VNeID). This will also be an official channel for citizens to contribute opinions, refute and state agencies to inform and solve the root of the fake news problem.
4 groups of requirements for security standards
Talking to Lao Dong, network security expert Ngo Minh Hieu assessed that expanding VNeID into a "super application" is a trend suitable for national digital transformation.
According to expert Ngo Minh Hieu, if implemented properly, this platform can become a core digital infrastructure, helping to synchronize identification - payment - digital signature - public services; reduce dependence on foreign platforms; increase legitimacy in communication between the State and people.
However, he believes that this is a model that concentrates data at a very high level. When integrating e-wallets, digital signatures, personal data warehouses and social networks into the same ecosystem, network security and data leakage risks will increase exponentially. If not designed according to the "security by design" principle from the beginning, the system can become an attractive attack target.
Regarding security standards, Mr. Hieu mentioned four groups of requirements.
First, comprehensive encryption: End-to-end encryption for sensitive data; data encryption when storing (at-rest) and when transmitting (in-transit); using HSM (Hardware Security Module) to protect passwords.
Second, separate and minimize data: Completely separate financial data, social data, administrative data; apply the principles of "zero trust" and "least privilege"; do not allow one access point to access all citizen data.
Third, multi-layer authentication and anti-account appropriation: Multi-factorial authentication (MFA), biometrics accompanied by liveness testing; behavioral analysis mechanism; real-time monitoring to detect fraud.
Fourth, audit and transparency: Periodic independent security audits; deploy bug bounty (reward for reporting vulnerabilities) publicly; clearly announce governance policies and data storage.
Regarding the goal of "100% of users verifying identity", Mr. Hieu said that this will definitely help significantly reduce virtual accounts and large-scale fraud campaigns, because when all accounts are associated with real identity, the cost of committing crimes will increase.
However, according to him, identity verification is not a "panacea". Fake news may still originate from real accounts; real accounts may be embezzled; scams may shift to other platforms.
Therefore, he believes that identity verification is just a layer of control. To thoroughly handle fake news and fraud, it is necessary to combine an AI-based harmful content detection system; fast and transparent processing mechanism; education, and raising digital awareness for people.
