Information-sharing among sectors key to beefing up cyber defenses

By Patrizia Paola C. Marcelo, Reporter
Coordination and action among different sectors can help companies beef up their cyber defenses, representatives from various sectors said.
“The criminals are well-coordinated. But the good guys, they try to go above one another, and say ‘I’m better than you’,” said Angel Redoble, chief information officer of PLDT Enterprise, during the Australia Innovation Summit held in Makati City on May 22.
Mr. Redoble said that companies and organizations must work hand-in-hand and share information to have a stronger defense.
Cybersecurity is a cross-border challenge that affects all industries, but the problem is the cyber criminals are winning because of their coordination while the affected sectors act a little too late, and that the issue of cybersecurity is left to the information technology (IT) personnel.
Mr. Redoble added that the current trend is to do predictive security, and not just act before and after incidents. Threats must be anticipated, he said.
Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Assistant Secretary for Cyber Security Allan S. Cabanlong said that the DICT has brought this issue at the regional level in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), for information sharing between and among member nations, and that the member states of the region are working towards a cyber security framework.
“We have discussed this at ASEAN last year, but countries have not yet agreed on a final framework,” Mr. Cabanlong said.
On the part of educators, information technology (IT) education provider AMA said it developed a curriculum for a degree in cybersecurity to produce cybersecurity professionals in the country.
Demeke Bayyou, research director at AMA University, said that they have formulated a curriculum with the DICT for a degree in cybersecurity.
National Privacy Commission (NPC) Commissioner Raymund E. Liboro said that all departments of a company or organization must be involved in cybersecurity.
“Cyber security is relegated to the IT guys, but that should not be the case. Everyone from different departments of a company must be involved,” Mr. Liboro said.
The world has been hit with well-coordinated transnational cyberattacks, including the “WannaCry” ransomware attack in May last year, which spread in over 70 countries and has victimized individuals, businesses and foreign government institutions, including hospitals and the police. “WannaCry” ransomware locks up files in the affected computer and demands payment to regain access to the encrypted files.