The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) on Sunday, Feb. 4, explained how and where it thwarted the possible cyber attack on the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) cyber system.
In an interview with DZBB Super Radyo, DICT Assistant Secretary Aboy Paraiso confirmed that the internet protocol (IP) address of the potential actors behind this cyber attack was traced back to China.
"When it comes to our email addresses, the persistent aggressive attacks on our government email system, we identified. Although it's somewhat complex, the group is quite sophisticated," Paraiso said in a mix of English and Filipino.
"We traced it back to a group with addresses that are known Chinese threat actors," he added.
However, he explained that the DICT is not directly implicating the government of China. Instead, it requested China's assistance in investigating this attempt, as the possible actors were found within their jurisdiction.
Moreover, Paraiso emphasized that despite the lack of budget, the agency successfully prevented the possible cyber threat and pointed out that the motive of the threat actors remains unknown.
"Despite the lack of budget, we were able to prevent the attempted attack on OWWA," he said.
"To be honest, on a daily basis, there is a constant attack on our government and private sites, but they are being thwarted," he added.
Furthermore, the assistant secretary explained that the DICT did a "remediation" as a preventive measure on the said cyber attack.
"We took measures so that whatever they penetrated, they won't be able to use," Paraiso said.
Google Workspace cyber attack
In addition to OWWA, some cyber culprits attempted to access the Philippines' administrative information in Google Workspace.
"That's regarding the Google Workspace, it's a different incident, and in fact, that direct attack is not directed at us regarding the Google Workspace, which is located outside the territorial jurisdiction of the Philippines," Paraiso said.
He then confirmed that the DICT had also stopped the said attack.
"They (hackers) tried because they were trying to get the admin access to it (Google Workspace), and because we opened it, they were not able to use it," Paraiso said.