By Star Chang, posted Jan 17, 2013 at 11:39 AM, 1,443 views,

Baidu and Tencent Pose Security Threat to Vietnamese Internet User

Baidu and Tencent, the two Chinese internet giants, landed in Vietnam in 2012. Their rapid growth have threaten the information security of local internet users, which added that both companies would undermine local internet companies. Baidu introduced the Vietnamese version of its search engine and other online services in January last year. Page views soared from 70,000 in April to 2 million by August. Tencent also launched its mobile phone text and voice messaging service in April last year, attracting more than 1 million Vietnamese users so far. Local media suspect the two internet companies are accessing and stealing information from users. Some former users have complained that the software is hard to remove after installation. Baidu’s search engine will automatically redirect usage patterns of Vietnamese netizens. If take-up passes 50 percent of local users, Vietnamese internet companies will lose their influence over the way people in the country surf the net.

SOURCE: vietnamnet.vn