Good morning, Vietnam

[Teacher Mark 53]

Editor's note: CNET editor and Crave contributor Dong Ngo is spending the month of December in his homeland of Vietnam and plans to file occasional dispatches chronicling his impressions of how technology has permeated the culture there. Click here for more of Dong's stories from abroad.

HANOI, Vietnam--Regardless of what some people seem to think, we Asians do not all look the same. But according to the current face recognition algorithm used in laptops, our faces are all about as flat as a piece of paper.

That's according to BKIS, the Vietnamese Internetwork Security Center that makes the antivirus software I mentioned in a blog post Monday. At a press conference here Tuesday, the company demonstrated vulnerabilities in laptops' face recognition-based authentication mechanisms that let anyone log in to a computer easily with a "special" photo of the legit owner, even at the highest authentication level.

Using your face as the password to log in to a computer--an alternative to the fingerprint method or the traditional username and password--marks a new trend found in laptops from Lenovo, Asus, and Toshiba. As far as I know, only these three vendors currently offer this technology in their laptops. These computers come with a built-in Webcam that's used to capture and analyze faces.

I've been impressed by this new way to log in and have found it to be so much more convenient than the fingerprint reader of my Dell XPS 1330. The finger scanner is a pain when my finger is wet or dirty. Unfortunately, on Tuesday I discovered that this new and exciting technology may not be such an effective security measure.

I participated in a demonstration on a Lenovo Y430, running Windows Vista, and here's how it panned out:

First, I enrolled myself as a legit user of the computer. The process was fairly fast and straightforward. The laptop's Lenovo Veriface III authentication software scanned my face for some prime spots, including my eyes, presumably to make sure it can recognize my face regardless of which angle I look at the Webcam from.

Once the enrollment was done, I was able to log in quickly with my face. The machine took less than a second to recognize me. Very nice.

After that, I engaged in a Skype video chat with a BKIS technician. At the other end of the chat section, the technician silently captured my face. This took just a few seconds. My involvement in the demonstration was now done.

About five minutes later, the technician produced a rather unflattering picture of me on a piece of letter-size paper. I could hardly agree that it was my mug on the photo. Nonetheless, when used in front of the laptop's camera, the Y430's authentication software was happy enough with the photo and logged in within a second. Pretty scary.

In addition to the Lenovo Y430, BKIS also showed that the same thing can be done with two demo laptops from Asus and Toshiba. It charged that all laptops from these vendors currently equipped with the technology are similarly vulnerable.

BKIS says it informed all three related vendors about the findings and invited them to the demonstration. However, none showed up. I tried to contact Toshiba and Asus representatives in Vietnam, but so far have been unable to reach them. On Wednesday, a Lenovo representative from Singapore offered this comment:

"Face recognition technology is offered as an alternative security option for consumers who would like the convenience of not having to remember yet another password. Our advice to concerned consumers is to take basic safety measures to limit their vulnerabilities--store your notebook securely...Like all technologies, early adoption reveals initial issues that are improved over time, and Veriface, which is only used in our consumer range of notebooks, continues to be upgraded."

Getting back to the pictures, it's important to note that not any photos of a legit user's face will do. Duc Minh Nguyen, BKIS' manager of application security department, said the photo doesn't have to be high quality. It does, however, need to be processed in a very particular way, mostly to enhance certain key points of the face and adjust contrast level to match the "expectation" of the face recognition algorithm.

For security reasons, the actual key points and the particular enhancement were not announced to the public. However, my take is that the use of these photos is probably possible because the authentication software looks at the face as a 2D object, instead of a 3D one. This makes each face much less unique than it actually is.

This is not the first time BKIS has discovered security holes. Recently, the center alerted Microsoft to the vulnerability in Windows Media Encoder 9 and turned up the latest vulnerability in Chrome.

Quang Tu Nguyen, BKIS' director, said these face recognition vulnerabilities are very hard to fix without making the log-in process significantly less easy to use, which defeats the purpose of the technology. For now, he advised owners of these laptops to use the traditional username and password authentication method--or just don't not to trust the computer with sensitive information.

Whether face recognition authentication is actually useless, we'll have to wait to see. In the meantime, I guess I'll just have to continue to keep my finger clean and dry at all times.

This is me being enrolled by the Y430's Lenovo Veriface III authentication software to be a legitimate user of the computer.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CBS Interactive)

As a legit user, I am doing a video Skype chat with another BKIS technician.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CBS Interactive)

On the other end of the chat, an image of my face is being captured.

(Credit: Quang Minh/BKIS)

A special photo of my face is being used to log in, and it worked as well as my real face.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CBS Interactive)

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-101109...l?tag=mncol;txt

[Teacher Mark 53]

Editor's note: CNET editor and Crave contributor Dong Ngo is spending the month of December in his homeland of Vietnam and plans to file occasional dispatches chronicling his impressions of how technology has permeated the culture there. Click here for more of Dong's stories from abroad.

HANOI, Vietnam--Love, or the lack thereof, is an ongoing global issue. I offer no solution, but if you want to look for the one here in Vietnam, a word of advice: learn to text and know your emoticons.

While online dating services are rampant in the States (personally, I believe many young Americans aren't really sure what to look for in a partner and being impatient as usual, think spending money somehow helps solve this), things are a little different in Vietnam--in the big cities that is.

"Nobody writes letters by hand anymore, we just text or talk over Yahoo Instant Messenger."

--Hien Nguyen, 27-year-old Vietnamese reporter

Here, there are no dating services (at least none that my friends and I can spot), and young people still mostly meet the traditional way--through friends, school, family, work, and so on. Those who do meet online most often become friends through blogging, forums, or online social activities.

(In small villages like the one in Ha Nam where I was born, dating hasn't changed much in the past 50 years. Kids are sort of matched up at an early age, oftentimes jokingly, by relatives or friends. When they grow up, if neither goes away to find a job elsewhere, chances are they will marry each other.)

But it doesn't matter how a relationship here starts; it seems all of them go through something I'd call the "@ phase of love," in which the courtship continues via cell phone texts and Yahoo instant messaging. Unlike in the States, where couples tend to move in together, people in Vietnam generally only live together once married. In between, they rely on cell phones and the Internet to stay close.

And they do that a lot. It doesn't take much to see how frequently people send text messages here. Go to a popular cafe in Hanoi--and there are many--and you'll constantly hear cell phones' quick ringing to indicate that a message has just been received. Judging from the young demographic of cell phone users, it isn't hard to see how much love and text messaging are intertwined.

Hien Nguyen, a 27-year-old newspaper reporter, told me the difference between dating in Vietnam now and just five years ago. "Nobody writes letters by hand anymore, we just text or talk over Yahoo Instant Messenger." Hien said she misses those handwritten letters, but only when she's on the receiving end. That's the problem. True romantic anticipation has been replaced by instant gratification, with the anticipation being waiting for text messages.

"It's fun to read them and read them again sometimes," Hien said. "I find it easier to express myself (that way) than talking directly. I can choose my words carefully."

I can sort of relate to this. Sometimes it's much less nerve-racking to send a text message than even to leave a voicemail. There's no voicemail service on cell phones in Vietnam, by the way, and most people don't bother to have home answering machines. Text messaging aside, people here generally pick up their phones when called.

There's another reason text messaging is preferred; it's cheaper. Each text message costs only around 300 dong (less than 2 cents) or less, while a cell call can cost up to three or four times per minute what a text message does, depending on the distance. Unlike the States, in Vietnam (and many parts of the world) you don't have to pay for incoming texts or calls.

There are no restrictions on cell phone use here; you can use them anywhere, anytime. However, you might want to get out of a crowded restaurant or cafe to answer a call, if only because you want to escape the constant sound of phones ringing and people chatting on their mobile devices.

(There's not much restriction here overall, by the way. Take traffic, for example. You can drive without wearing a seat belt. During rush hour, bicycles and scooters can pretty much get on the sidewalks or sometimes even go into the opposite lanes. The most significant change in the traffic laws I can see here is the enforcement of helmets, which some people just put on for show, without properly tightening the strap.)

While text messages are clearly useful, I find it rather confusing to communicate via Yahoo Instant Messenger. First of all, there's lots of Vietnamese slang, much like the "l33tspeak" in the States. Living in the States for so long, I have to admit that I am behind on the lingo. But most intimidating to me is the use of the emoticons.

People over here have a thing for those cute little digital expressions. I have used Yahoo IM a lot to chat with my new friends during the course of writing this series of CNET blogs. My personal favorite, the smiley face , is way too boring for them.

Minh Nguyen, a 25-year-old student I met online through family prior to this trip (and no relation to Hien Nguyen), often decorates her sentences with multiple emoticons. So much so that sometimes it's hard for me to know what she really means. Fortunately, I asked Minh and others to do some translating, and I got some very important information.

Though most Yahoo IM emoticons are designed to mean something that's widely understood, there are some that are interpreted here entirely differently from what they are originally designed to mean.

Learning to speak emoticon

For example, the "time out" smiley (formed by :-t characters) is used by some to actually mean "I am going to hammer you on the head". The "talk to the hand" and "bring it on" smileys (formed by =; and >:/ , respectively) are sometimes used to mean "bye bye." And the "not worthy" sign ^^ is used to mean "po' tay", which is a trendy not-in-the-dictionary Vietnamese way to say "You are too much, I give up."

Well, I did give up, not on love but on trying to decipher what each emoticon here means. I will continue to be happy with my boring but very clear smiley face .

With all the technology at their disposal, a lot of young Vietnamese still have problems finding their other half. This is mostly because there's no dating for dating's sake here. Vietnamese are generally out to find love, sometimes in the hopeless-romantic sort of way. This, plus pressure from family and the ever increasingly busy lifestyle, makes me wonder how the dating scene in Vietnam will look in the next few years.

There is a silver lining, though. People in the cities tend to get married older than they did a few years ago. And Vietnam's population growth rate for sure could use some slowing down.

Of course, it doesn't matter whether you're online or offline, Vietnamese or not. In the end, finding love is all about communication and making sure you show who you really are. After all, how can your true love find you if you don't? (Just call me Dr. Ngo. I charge 100,000 dong per session.)

Hien Nguyen and her trusted love communicator: the Sony Ericson S500i.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CBS Interactive)

Here I am flirting with a girl online. Emoticons in Vietnam can be so confusing that I po' tay (meaning I give up).

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CBS Interactive)

[Teacher Mark 53]

Editors note: CNET editor and Crave contributor Dong Ngo is spending the next month in his homeland of Vietnam and plans to file occasional dispatches chronicling his impressions of how technology has permeated the culture there. Click here for more of Dong's stories from abroad.

HANOI, Vietnam--If you use any Internet-connected computer in Vietnam--and there are lots of them, with Internet cafes and Wi-Fi spots abounding in any city--chances are you'll find a little red plus sign at the bottom-right corner of the screen.

That's the icon of the most popular antivirus software here. It's called BKAV.

(A bit of background: if you've recently read reviews of Internet security products by our security editor Rob Vamosi, know that I am the one who designed the methodology involved in testing these applications. It's therefore natural for me to be curious about how people in various parts of the world are protected against malicious software.)

BKAV is short for Bach Khoa AntiVirus, with "Bach Khoa" being the Vietnamese name for the Hanoi University of Technology. The software was originally developed as a hobby by Quang Tu Nguyen, a student-turned-lecturer at the school. It's currently the flagship product of Bach Khoa Internetwork Security center (BKIS), of which Quang, now 33, is director.

Quang still lectures once in awhile, but he's primarily known as the man who has changed the landscape of network and computer security in Vietnam. His creation, BKAV, is in many ways just about the best security software you can find.

I visited Quang at the BKIS headquarters, an office that somewhat resembles CNET or any other high-tech company: cubicles and lots of computer screens are everywhere. There's one big exception, however: everybody is asked to remove their shoes before entering, which is not a standard business practice in Vietnam. The company is probably the cleanest workplace I've seen here yet.

The center has about 400 employees, 300 of whom are software engineers, mostly recruited in-house from the school. They are among the brightest computer science minds in the country. According to BKIS, the BKAV security software currently enjoys about 10.5 million users and more than 110,000 downloads daily. Currently, Vietnam has about 20 million Internet users and counting (out of a population of about 85 million), according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Information and Communication.

The majority of security software applications feature a couple of common annoyances: they take a long time to install, they take a long time (and sometimes some difficulty) to remove, and they slow down your machine. This is because in order to protect your computer, security software needs to interfere significantly with basic operations such as reading and writing files, checking network connections, and so on. It's a challenge to develop protection software that is simple yet effective.

After a few days of trying BKAV and a few hours of talking to Quang and his engineers, I found BKAV to be arguably the only security application so far that offers both those attributes.

First off, the software took literally one second to install on my Dell XPS 1330 laptop and two seconds to completely remove, each step requiring a single mouse click. The software also uses very few system resources when not performing a scan.

If you accept the default options, you can start/stop the scanning just by using the Enter and Escape key. There are absolutely no frills in the user interface. For those who have installed and used any Windows software before and like to get things done the fastest possible way, this is a pleasant surprise. And yet this is the least impressive thing about the software.

It's common for antivirus software to remove a threat by literally removing/quarantining infected files. Technically, this is a fast way to write code that generally works well as long as the infected files are the viruses themselves.

This does, however, pose problems when the virus is sophisticated enough to add itself to a critical system file or replace the legitimate system file with a compromised version that also carries malicious commands. There is a new trend of viruses that do just that, and there are currently a few of them in the wild. Using the standard method to remove them will result in crippling the operating system, making it impossible to log in, and causing the loss of common features such as cut and paste or the ability to go on to the Internet.

(I actually sat down in the BKIS labs and tried a few known antivirus software applications against two specimens of these nasty viruses, including one identified by Symantec as Infostealer.Gampass and another identified by McAfee as Generic.dx. It's important to note that different security firms might identify the same virus differently, and sometimes a new virus can be identified as an existing virus. The applications, collectively, did detect and remove the viruses but also rendered the system unusable afterward.)

BKAV, by contrast, deals with each threat (and its variants) individually by dissecting its codes and meticulously countering exactly whatever it is the virus is designed to do. This is a lot of work, and it takes dedication. Quang and his colleagues take turns working literally around the clock to discover new threats and develop updates to counter them, typically within 24 hours.

Their effort results in two things: first, it's close to impossible for BKAV to register false detection. This is because once a threat is identified, BKAV goes deeper and scrutinizes the coding to find out exactly how it should be dealt with. This process at the same time verifies whether the detected threat is real. Second, BKAV is able to remove the malicious code without harming the system. Most of the time, you don't need to restart the computer for the cleaning to get done, either.

Unlike other software that gives you lots of flashy warnings and progress displays, BKAV takes care of threats in a rather unceremonious way. Often you wonder if your computer has actually been swept.

Taking up only roughly 13MB after installation (as opposed to hundreds of megabytes in other applications), BKAV is capable of protecting your computer against and removing all threats including viruses, trojans, spyware, rootkits, and malicious links spread through e-mail or or Yahoo chat. BKIS also offers network and enterprise protection solutions.

(Speaking of Yahoo, if you live in Vietnam, you might wonder why Yahoo isn't doing so well in the United States. Yahoo Mail and Messenger are the first choice among Vietnamese teenagers and young adults when it comes to Internet-based communication. And teens and young adults are the majority of Internet users here. Also, Yahoo 360 is by far the most popular blogging service here, and it loads much faster in Hanoi than it does in the States.)

Before this trip to Vietnam, I always had a lingering feeling that my family and friends were missing out on top-notch American online protection. Now I realize we Americans are actually the ones who having been missing out on some great software and services, but hopefully not for too much longer. Quang told me BKIS is working on making its software and services available outside of Vietnam in 2009.

In the meantime, you can download and try the free version of the BKAV software; the software comes with both Vietnamese and English interfaces. The commercial version costs only $299,000 dong ($17) for a one-year subscription, much less than the cost of its American counterparts.

Personally, I am highly impressed by how BKAV works and the way BKIS is run. It's ironic, however, that a lot of Vietnamese, mostly adults, would probably argue that BKAV is in no way comparable with other protection software solutions developed outside of Vietnam, especially in America, simply because it's made in Vietnam.

Vietnam is a super-friendly country, sometimes to the point of xenophilia, when it comes to products. Maybe that's why KFC is such a popular place. But hey, go to the fast-food joint and have an order of highly processed fried chicken and a large soda, then tell me if that's really more satisfying than a plate of spring rolls served with spicy fish sauce or an order of sticky rice sprinkled with shredded pork and crispy, roasted sliced onions.

On second thought, tastes differ, so don't tell me anything. But trust me that when it comes to BKIS, you're in good hands.

Quang Tu Nguyen has changed the landscape of network and computer security in Vietnam.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CBS Interactive)

Despite its frill-free user interface, BKAV offers highly advanced protection.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CBS Interactive)

BKIS' technical support is available 24/7. All support is free; you just have to pay for the toll call.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CBS Interactive)

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-101095...l?tag=mncol;txt

[Teacher Mark 53]

Editor's note: This is the first in an occasional series of dispatches by CNET editor and Crave contributor Dong Ngo, who is spending the next month in his homeland of Vietnam. He'll be looking at the country through his now nerdy and Americanized eyes, in particular exploring how people there do the sorts of things he does every day in the States: play video games, use a cell phone, and try to stay safe online.

HANOI, Vietnam--There's a standing joke that goes like this: "What do you call an Asian who gets lost? Disoriented." Not really funny, but if you want to meet one Asian who gets lost in his own neighborhood, that would be me.

Originally from Hanoi but now living in San Francisco, I visit friends and family in Vietnam as often as I am financially able, which is not as often as I would like.

The country has been changing so fast, every time I go back to the place I still consider home, I experience a little reverse culture shock. This time is no exception.

I tried to figure out where I was and what direction I should go by looking for familiar landmarks, but none were still there.

It took 20-plus hours of travel time to get here from San Francisco. The first morning in Hanoi, jetlag woke me at 4:30 a.m. and I decided to get up for a jog. In the States this would be super early; over here, nobody is remotely impressed.

The moment I left the house, it felt somewhat like a national holiday, noisy and bustling. Restaurants and makeshift breakfast places selling sticky rice, pho (noodle soup), and other delicious morning edibles were just being opened. Some were already serving their first patrons.

On the sidewalks were already people everywhere--running, walking, playing badminton, doing Tai chi, or just simply sitting and looking. There were scores of scooters and bicycles, and once in a while, small trucks weaving back and forth, carrying vegetables, chickens, or other food-related items in bulk, honking all the while.

(There are many things you will need to get used to when in Vietnam, and one would be the honking. Nothing personal, it's just that people want to make sure their existence on the street is well-noticed. And considering the crazy nature of the traffic here, this totally makes sense.)

It was, indeed, just another day.

I ran to the gym I used to go to, about half a mile away. It was no longer there. Instead, there was a seven-story apartment building with a big swimming pool nearby. The pool was closed as it's rather chilly in November.

I continued my jog, following one new road after another. The area where I grew up used to be considered suburban, with lots of open space containing nothing but grass. Now the grassy open space is long gone and there are many new, modern apartment buildings. Some are still being finished, divided by new streets with fancy names.

After about an hour of running, I turned around to go back to my parents' home and very soon, realized that I was totally lost.

I tried to figure out where I was and what direction I should go by looking for familiar landmarks, but none were still there. Instead, at the site of my once-favorite beer joint, I found a KFC, something so familiar in San Francisco but the strangest sight to see in Hanoi.

I decided to go into the fast-food restaurant, partly out of curiosity, partly to ask for directions.

The waitress, a twentysomething girl, drew directions with a lot of turns on a piece of paper, then uttered in Vietnamese, "Oh my god! You speak perfect Vietnamese! It's amazing."

To my surprise, she explained that she had never seen a foreigner who spoke such good Vietnamese and that she was certain I was not Vietnamese because according to her I "said thank you more than necessary." Ironically, I said "thank you" once more before leaving the store.

(It was rumored back in 1999 that KFC wanted to get into Vietnam but was repeatedly denied due to the fact that its mascot so resembles Ho Chi Minh. Now the food chain is available in major cities throughout the country with about 40 stores in Ho Chi Minh City and 10 in Hanoi alone. The store seems a rather trendy place for young people, with meals that cost around 50,000 dong (about $3). This is quite expensive considering a bowl of pho costs just about 75 cents and, in my opinion, tastes much better.)

I never thought an all-American meal would have a place in the long and diverse list of Vietnamese cuisine. But hey, I never thought I would get lost in an area I spent some 20 years of my life, either.

Welcome home to Vietnam, Dong!

Kentucky Fried Chicken: in case you're worried Hanoi might be too exotic for you.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CBS Interactive)

For many residents of Hanoi, like this group out at 6 a.m., exercise is a public morning ritual.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CBS Interactive)

Edited December 6, 2008 by Joe Six-Pack

[Teacher Mark 53]

Gee, that's where the other 3 topics went. Thanks to whoever decided to combine 4 unrelated articles.

[SpiritAlight 1]

Hey Joe Six Pack, I read all three. Fascinating.

I love to read about other cultures.

I laughed out loud at his getting lost in his own neighbourhood that had totally changed.

Progress, huh?

PS your name sounds really funny now that it is out of context...seems like a million years ago already....Sarah.

[Teacher Mark 53]

Hey Joe Six Pack, I read all three. Fascinating.

I love to read about other cultures.

I laughed out loud at his getting lost in his own neighbourhood that had totally changed.

Progress, huh?

PS your name sounds really funny now that it is out of context...seems like a million years ago already....Sarah.

I was just thinking about the name the other day!

Always nice to put forth the effort on several informative posts, just to have someone merge them all. Way to go whoever did it.