Viettel Ships Homegrown Security Chip Built With Vietnam Cipher Agency

Viettel Group and Vietnam's Government Cipher Committee have jointly developed a semiconductor security platform whose first chip, VGC v1.0, encrypts and decrypts data roughly 15 times faster than a software-only solution performing the same tasks, according to performance tests cited by the Vietnamese operator.

The parties unveiled the platform on Wednesday. VGC v1.0 packs 300 million transistors into a 10 × 10 mm package and is fabricated on a 28-nm CMOS process, with a domestic cryptographic algorithm integrated directly into silicon.

The division of labour was explicit. The Government Cipher Committee's M2 unit set the security requirements, developed the cryptographic algorithm and defined evaluation criteria. Viettel Semiconductor Center designed and implemented the chip.

Why RISC-V matters here

The platform sits on the open RISC-V instruction set architecture. Viettel said the open ISA lets its engineers modify processor designs and reuse established verification processes for future chip generations, rather than licensing a closed architecture from a foreign vendor.

The first batch of VGC v1.0 chips passed technical tests and received certification for socio-economic applications in the first quarter of 2026. Deployment has already begun in secure USB storage devices supplied to Party, government and defence agencies.

Planned applications include:

• Support for Vietnam's national digital signature certification system, which has more than two million digital certificates in circulation
• Financial data protection
• Connected cameras and sensors
• Critical infrastructure across electricity, water, oil and gas, and telecoms

Viettel and the Government Cipher Committee have signed an agreement covering volume production, multicore security chips, specialist workforce development and testing on real devices.

What does this change for Vietnam's supply chain?

The stated aim is sovereignty. Both the chip and the platform address government concerns over potential data exposure arising from reliance on imported chips. Embedding cryptographic functions directly into hardware, the two organisations argued, strengthens Vietnam's control over the design and verification of technologies protecting sensitive information.

Viettel Group chairman and CEO Lieutenant General Tao Duc Thang framed VGC v1.0 as a step forward in the group's semiconductor design capabilities and technological self-reliance, and a foundation for future generations of security hardware.

"Researching, designing and developing secure semiconductor chips is a formidable challenge, requiring years of accumulated expertise, technological capabilities and highly skilled talent. Yet we believe that starting later does not mean accepting dependence on others," Tao said in a statement. "With the right strategy, focused resources and sustained commitment, we can steadily close the gap and move towards mastering technologies of strategic importance to our country."

Viettel is not stopping at design. The group is building a semiconductor fabrication plant at Hoa Lac High Tech Park in Hanoi, part of a broader push to build domestic capability across chip design, manufacturing and packaging. Tao said Viettel aims to advance its design work toward future dual-use chips for AI, 6G, smart cameras, IoT, UAVs and robotics.

The operator's R&D arm, Viettel High Tech, produced its first 5G chipset in late 2023 for its domestic 5G equipment ecosystem, giving the security chip effort a precedent within the group.

Policy backdrop

The chip programme fits a national directive. In 2024, Vietnam's then-prime minister Pham Minh Chinh instructed Viettel, VNPT, MobiFone and Gtel Mobile to take the lead on semiconductor chip research, development and production as part of the government's semiconductor growth strategy.

For now, VGC v1.0 remains a government-focused product, certified for socio-economic applications and deployed in secure USB drives for state agencies. The agreement on volume production and multicore designs, alongside the Hoa Lac fab build-out, signals Viettel's intention to move from prototype to industrial scale.