
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is now fast-tracking its probes on cybercrime complaints to put offenders behind bars and to recover their loot for return to victims.
NBI Officer-in-Charge Director Eric B. Distor “has directed the members of his Directorial Staff and cyber-investigators to coordinate with bank regulators such as the Central Bank and other government financial institutions on how we can strengthen the banks’ systems and policies to further curb or eradicate any future plans or attacks on banks.”
In a statement, the NBI said that Distor is planning to hold during the second quarter of this year a cybercrime and digital forensic summit in coordination with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Information, Communications and Technology (DICT).
“We will call on IT (information technology) professionals and practitioners to join the Summit as we need to have a strong and solid collaborative efforts of the private sector and the government to fight cybercrime,” Distor stated.
“In this age of fast technological advances where the world has become a borderless village, we need a united front to fight an unseen enemy,” he pointed out.
The NBI said Distor made the bold moves in the light of the hacking of accounts of depositors of a commercial bank last December.
Distor lamented that hackers exploited the vulnerability of the bank process and were able to bypass the one-time pin (OTP) requirement of transactions that resulted in fraudulent activity.
Five suspects in the reported hacking of bank accounts have been arrested.