PH cybersecurity status nears Tier 1

INFORMATION and Communications Technology Secretary Ivan John Uy said over the weekend that the Philippines was close to achieving a Tier 1 ranking on cybersecurity, which would put it on par with the United States, Japan and Singapore.

Saying the country has been placed under Tier 3 for "quite some time," Uy said the Global Cybersecurity Index 2024, a United Nations survey conducted to assess a nation's cybersecurity capability, policies and programs, now put the Philippines in Tier 2.

"In terms of numbers, we got 93.49, and we are just 1.5 shy from Tier 1," the ICT chief said during an exclusive interview with Dante Ang II, The Manila Times chairman and CEO on his new program "Chairman's Report," which airs on IBC-13.

"This is quite significant because Tier 1 has the countries like the US, Japan, Singapore and Estonia that we look up to in terms of cybersecurity capability," Uy added.

He stressed that achieving the Tier 1 ranking would be equally important as this would be an affirmation from the UN itself that the Philippines is addressing cybersecurity the right way.

This includes adopting the correct legislation, policies and programs and building capacity and operational efficiency to address cybercrime and cyber threats, he said.

Getting the highest status would also send a strong signal to investors all over the world that the country is moving up in cybersecurity capability, and they can be assured that it is at par with developed countries in terms of protecting data and securing digital infrastructure and investment in technological assets.

This, he said, would increase investors' confidence that when they located their businesses in the Philippines, "the data centers are up to par, secure, with capable people who are trained and capacitated to utilize the technology in a very positive manner."

Uy said cyberthreats are growing not only in terms of scale but also of sophistication.

"We mention artificial intelligence; it is a tool that is very productive, but it can be dangerous in the hands of the wrong people as these cybercriminals are using the same tool," he said.

He pointed out that the culminating point was when President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed an executive order adopting the National Security Plan (2023-2028), which involved the SIM (subscriber identity module) card registration, cybercrime laws and the creation of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).

Continuously collaborating with the private sector, the DICT has also launched various programs like capacity building and cyber hygiene training to make the public more aware and discerning whenever they receive scam texts and phishing attempts, among others, Uy said.

Saying "it was not always enough," Uy, however, was thankful to the Department of Management and Budget and Congress for increasing the agency's annual budget.

"The amount of investments the cybercriminals are putting into their operations is far bigger than what the government is doing, so it is important because of the inadequacy of each government in receiving enough budget, the opportunities for collaboration become more important," he emphasized.

On hacking and related cybercrime incidents, he said they had arrested several "cybercriminals."

State-sponsored hacking, which was designed to penetrate and compromise systems, was motivated by profit, he said.

There are these domestic cyberthreat actors who are hacking the sites to let one know their vulnerability, and in many instances, they do that and sell information, he said.

"And we have this AC/DC or attack-and-collect players who approach corporations and offer to secure their system, but the companies would turn them down. However, over the next few days, their system [gets] hacked, then they return and say, 'I told you so,' but actually, they're the ones who did it," he said.

The ICT chief said they have been working with Tier 1 countries to help them analyze the threats with the aid of international law enforcement agencies.

Uy also said it was inevitable that the military should need to have a sort of a technology branch to make it more capable of dealing with cyberattacks.

Uy said that people in the technology arena would say World War III has already started, and there's no need to openly declare war.

"All these backings and intrusions are already cyber warfare, and they're ongoing," he said.

The DICT, he said, is also coordinating closely with the concerned government agencies to properly address the propagation of misinformation and disinformation by working with social media platforms and finding ways like vetting.

Being the chairman of the advisory council of the Commission on Elections, he has been providing advice on election technology matters.

"It's up to the Comelec to modify or adopt in whole or in part," said Uy as he lauded the poll body leadership for being on track in ensuring transparency and the voters that the votes they would cast "are there and not tampered."

In a related development, Uy said the DICT has stepped up on its electronic governance (e-gov) efforts with the introduction, among others, of the e-travel app that already recorded 32 million travelers using it.

It was also incorporated with the Department of Migrant Workers- Overseas Filipino Workers (DMW-OFWs) app which integrated the overseas employment certificate (OEC).

"So an OFW does not need to go to DMW to apply for OEC as it is already integrated there," Uy explained.

The DICT has also introduced the e-visa for some selected countries wherein a traveler, especially those who come and go out of a country, to just apply electronically," he said.

He said his agency has also been working with other government agencies, including Philhealth, Pag-IBIG Fund, Government Service Insurance System and Land Transportation Office for digitalized identification cards.

"With all this digital ID, transactions with the government would be easier," Uy said.

Meanwhile, he said the DICT has designed a generic system, the electroni"We notice that all LGUs have the same concerns, but they all differ in their systems, hence, this generic system we designed for them. They are not obligated to use it, but they may look bad if they don't use it while others (localities) do," he said.