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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider DICT crafting cybersecurity guidelines for gov't agencies

DICT crafting cybersecurity guidelines for gov't agencies

Published Jul 11, 2024 07:34 am

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) announced on Thursday, July 11, that it is currently preparing cybersecurity guidelines for government agencies.

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This measure aims to compel various agencies to fix vulnerabilities on their websites.

"We are currently preparing some guidelines and recommendations," said DICT Secretary Ivan John Uy during a Pre-State of the Nation Address (SONA) briefing via PTV.

"If they (agencies) have been informed and have not taken any remedial action within a certain period, we will have to impose maybe some penalties or administrative sanctions," he added in a mix of English and Filipino.

Uy emphasized that the country's ICT department is scanning and conducting vulnerability testing on the government's IT assets.

When vulnerabilities are detected, the concerned agency is immediately informed.

"Whether these are websites, transactional websites, or informational apps that are out there, we are identifying their vulnerabilities," Uy said.

However, Uy revealed that some of these agencies "do not listen."

"There are many incidents where suddenly they say this site has been hacked, or this agency has been compromised," he said.

"We checked our records several months ago, and we informed this agency about their vulnerabilities. We told them, 'fix them,'" he added.

The DICT chief pointed out that these agencies ignored the warnings or took slow action.

"They didn't even take down the site temporarily to fix it," he emphasized, highlighting that "maybe they (government agencies) feel like there are no sanctions imposed on them, or they have many excuses."

Meanwhile, the official acknowledged that cybersecurity is "challenging," describing it as a "global problem."

He cited examples of countries at the forefront of cybersecurity, such as the United States, China, Russia, Japan, India, Australia, and the United Kingdom, also facing compromises.

"With over 400 government websites, created by various entities even before the DICT existed," he said, "Many government agencies created websites without considering cybersecurity measures."

Uy explained that when the DICT was established, they had limited manpower to monitor all the existing websites, which created opportunities for cyber hackers and criminals.

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Cybersecurity Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT)
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