The Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) have committed to collaborate in a long-standing alliance to combat cybercrime, protect financial consumers, and to hold cybercriminals liable for their criminal acts.
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The 45-member BAP and the DOJ on Friday, Feb. 4, formally signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) after more than two months of discussions.
Both the DOJ’s Office of Cybercrime or OOC and BAP have yet to fully thresh out the details of the MOU in terms of timeline, manpower involved, and what kind of training will be covered, especially in increasing the number of cybersecurity experts in the Philippines which the BAP admits is lacking in numbers.
Both DOJ and BAP officials during the event disclosed a few details such as conducting information campaigns, events, activities, and free learning sessions on cybersecurity.
The BAP said the MOU should beef up the banking industry’s cyber-resilience and with its partner, the DOJ, to “achieve a collective, coordinated, and strategic cyber response through information sharing and collaboration.”
“The most effective deterrent against cybercrimes is a no-holds barred enforcement and prosecution that will put these cybercriminals in jail for good. The BAP and DOJ are unified in this mission,” said BAP President Jose Arnulfo “Wick” Veloso during the virtual MOU signing event.
Veloso said the government and the whole banking sector will work on having a seamless collaboration to implement various cybersecurity-related initiatives, particularly an information-sharing partnership to keep both sides updated of cybercrime and cybersecurity trends.
DOJ Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra said that the reporting and investigation of cybercrimes have become more challenging due to the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly online fraud and phishing scam. But, he is confident the MOU will establish a “solid framework” of collaboration and alliance that should -- at the very least – minimize if not totally prevent cybercrime and cyber-related offenses in the country.
“The work of the DOJ of enforcing the law and administering justice in both the physical and virtual realm remains vigorous and unhampered. However, we recognize that a successful fight against these types of crimes require a deeper partnership with the private sector in a consolidated effort to counter and overcome financial-related cybercrimes,” said Guevarra.
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Deputy Governor Chuchi G. Fonacier, for her part, said the BSP will back both the BAP and DOJ in their common goal of ensuring a safer online banking and payment transaction environment.
Fonacier, who heads the BSP’s supervision sector, said the central bank has been at the forefront of promoting cybersecurity. In fact, he said, the BSP is one of the first financial regulators in the region to have a cybersecurity regulation. The BSP also continues to craft rules aimed at strengthening the banking sector’s cybersecurity resilience.
“Everyone, from financial regulators, financial service providers, business and individuals, play a key role in keeping digital financial ecosystem safe and secure. The BSP recognizes that the DOJ and BAP partnership will further strengthen efforts by the industry (and to foster) healthy dialogues between the DOJ and BAP on matters related to cybersecurity, knowledge-sharing and greater cooperation for the benefit of the financial consumers,” she said during the virtual event.
This is not the first time that BAP and DOJ are working together. The government is also a current partner of BAP in their CyberSafe campaign.
“In as much as we advocate for public awareness on cybersafety, we firmly believe that cybersecurity is not just about educating the public and encouraging them to participate, but is also about holding cybercriminals responsible for their acts which endanger others. This is the importance of working together with key government institutions for the benefit of the public,” said Veloso.
Veloso, who is also the President and CEO of Philippine National Bank, said cybercrime affects all regardless of their personal circumstances. “The paradox of today’s technological innovations is that, as banking and financial transactions are made more convenient and accessible to millions of Filipinos, so has it led to the increased sophistication on how crimes are perpetrated,” he said. “To us in the banking industry, this means that we always have to be one step ahead,” he added.
With recent local banks’ cybersecurity issues, the BSP is in the final stages of issuing stronger regulations on bank fraud management to control and deter future cybersecurity breaches. This pending fraud management system is part of the BSP’s “Enhanced Due Diligence” rules and the comprehensive cybersecurity guidelines that BSP is preparing.
Aside from the rules on fraud control, the BSP has also issued an industry playbook on ransomware to guide banks on best practices and recommended controls to effectively manage ransomware attacks.
In addition, the BSP is also developing the Financial Services Cyber Resilience Plan (FSCRP) to serve as the primary and cohesive framework to promote trust and cooperation, intelligence sharing and adoption of cybersecurity best practices and standards among banks and non-banks.