Philippines
National
'Pwede naman': DICT-CICC responds to HOR's 'urgent meeting' request
'Pwede naman': DICT-CICC responds to HOR's 'urgent meeting' request
By Sonny Daanoy
The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC), an attached agency to the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) on Monday, Feb. 5, expressed willingness to participate in the "urgent meeting" to be initiated by the House of Representatives (HOR).
"Pwede naman, we can divulge them kasi hindi limited sa --- lahat po ng imbestigasyon natin, in-detail kami (Sure, we can divulge them --- all of our investigations, we are detailed)," CICC Executive Director Alexander Ramos told reporters on the sidelines of the event the Memorandum of Agreement signing between CICC and Department of Migrant Workers (DMW).
CICC made the response after House Speaker Martin Romualdez appealed to convene an "urgent meeting" with the DICT and other concerned agencies regarding recent cyberattacks.
READ:
"If they want to see how far we are doing in terms of Philippine cyberspace, we can submit it to them," Ramos said.
On Feb. 5, Romualdez expressed concern about cybersecurity breaches affecting various government agencies, allegedly orchestrated by Chinese hackers.
“I express deep concern regarding the recent cybersecurity breaches in government agencies, as reported by the DICT. The revelation that hackers, suspected to be operating from China, have infiltrated the email systems and internal websites of various government agencies, is a matter of national security and public interest,” Romualdez said in a statement.
This prompted his request for an urgent meeting with the DICT.
Okay, so far
Meanwhile, the CICC assured the public that the cyber posture in the HOR is "so far, okay."
"You must remember, last year, when they were hit, we were the first responders, and it was quickly addressed, fixed," Ramos said in a mix of English and Filipino
"And there was an attempt a second time around, I think it was also contained," he added.
He then pointed out that cyberattacks will never end because the data acquired from them is a "commodity."
National security concern
Moreover, Ramos emphasized that whether the cyberattack is large or small, it will be considered a national security concern.
"When it comes to critical structure attacks, that's our concern. That's why critical infrastructure attacks are a national security (concern)," he said.
"Whether it is just stealing data or whatever, as long as it's affected, it's a matter of national security, regardless of the intention," he added.
For this reason, Ramos underscored that the CICC is dedicating all its resources to ensure the protection of the country's critical infrastructure.