PIXABAY

ALARMED by the frequency of cyberattacks in the country, a congresswoman said it may be time for the Philippines to consult leading cybersecurity experts in Southeast Asia, Japan and the United States to protect government databases.

Mentioning that there are only 200 certified cybersecurity specialists in the country, Bohol Rep. Kristine Alexie B. Tutor said, “it may be necessary to bring in experts from Interpol (International Police), our ASEAN neighbors, and maybe from the United States and Japan.”

In doing so, she said existing international bilateral and multilateral anti-crime agreements could be activated and, for funding, a $600-million loan approved by the World Bank to help increase the Philippines’ digital technology could be tapped.

Ms. Tutor made the suggestion in the wake of Sunday’s cyberattack on the House of Representatives (HoR) website, the latest in a series of hacking incidents of government digital systems.

Also hacked recently were the systems of the Department of Science and Technology (DoST), the Philippine National Police (PNP), the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), and the Department of Science and Technology (DoST).

Last month, the National Association of Data Protection Officers of the Philippines (NADPOP) said the country needs about 180,000 cybersecurity professionals to cover 10% of digitalized companies in healthcare, finance business process outsourcing (BPOs), and utilities like water, telecommunications and electricity.

Meanwhile, Party-list Rep. Raoul Danniel A. Manuel called for the suspension of the government’s Subscriber Identity Module (SIM)

“As long as the Marcos Jr. administration cannot show its ability to ensure cybersecurity in the country, they should not be trusted with any form of the public’s data,” he said in a statement. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz

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