Noting that the Philippines is considered “patient zero” in cybersecurity attacks, Canadian Ambassador to the Philippines David Hartman expressed Canada’s commitment to work with the country in addressing these threats and creating a resilient and adaptable digital workforce for the future.
Philippine and Canadian flags (Embassy of Canada in the Philippines)
The envoy said Canada is willing to work “hand-in-hand” with the Philippines to capacitate it for emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing, during the two-day Cybersecurity Conference on Jan. 16 and 17 organized by Stratbase Institute and the Canadian Embassy.
He also cited that such work must be done together with like-minded states and its key government agencies.
“Now, more than ever, with the growing threat from the proliferation of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing, likeminded countries must work together to build a resilient and adaptable cyber workforce for the future; indeed, one trained and ready for the whatever the future may hold,” Hartman added.
“It is in this light, my friends, that Canada is prepared to work hand-in-hand with the Philippines to build this capacity together.”
Aside from the Canadian ambassador, secretaries of the Departments of National Defense, Budget and Management, and Information and Communications Technology also made their remarks on the roles their respective agencies must play in ensuring that the Philippines is prepared to face cybersecurity threats.
Hartman, in particular, made mention of the March 2016 cyber attack into the website of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), wherein hackers accessed the personal information of over 55 million registered voters, including names, birthdays, home and e-mail addresses, and parents’ full names.
“This country has been described as the ‘patient zero’ of the misinformation and disinformation plague that has infected so many societies. The continued and pervasive deployment of misinformation and disinformation in the Philippine digital ecosystem, taken together with the memory of the 2016 hack of the Commission of Elections, illustrates the vulnerability of democratic processes to malign influence,” he said.
The ambassador also noted that the Philippines has been a “leading victim in the rise of cybercrimes” such as ransomware, fraud, theft, or the online victimization of children.
Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro likewise emphasized the need to address cybersecurity risks in the country, and admitted that the Philippines is described as “patient zero” for vulnerability—from information security to exploitation of children.
However, he also believes that “this gives us room right now for working and cooperating together with like-minded partners” to create “the proper frameworks and operational and institutional arrangements for long-term cooperation with the Philippine countries' interests in mind and respecting those of like-minded nations.”
The Defense chief also noted that the country is now transitioning into a strict operational security to address Philippines’ vulnerabilities.
“Our department is taking the lead right now to transitioning into strict operational security. That starts from individual security, facility security, to digital hygiene, to the architecture that we're going to put into our systems. And finally, into the required amount of information that we can release and not release by way of regulations that are going to be enacted,” he said.
Aside from cooperation with like-minded states, Stratbase Institute President Dindo Manhit emphasized the need for a whole-of-society approach to ensure digital security in the Philippines.
“A whole-of-Philippine society approach is critical to fully participate in the global digital economy and ensure cyber resilience. This approach opens the space for cooperation and innovation between the public and private sectors, and with like-minded partners,” he said.
Canadian Centre for Cyber Security Head Sami Khoury seconded their views, but added the need for international partnership.
“I’m proud to be here in the Philippines. We look forward to being international partners on the cybersecurity front. Cyber knows no boundaries. So the cyber threat actors don’t stop at Canada just because or don’t stop at the Philippines because they don’t intend to go out of the Philippines,” he said.
“[We need to know] how do we work together, how do we learn from each other, how do we share, how do we make each other as an early warning system of cyber—you see something here and you might be patient zero—how do we learn from that patient zero so we can stop threats elsewhere. It’s all about building that international team cyber and protect our society,” he added.