State Dining Room, Malacañan Palace
November 28, 2023
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. convened with key officials from the Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) to discuss digital infrastructure workplans in a meeting at the State Dining Room in Malacañan Palace.
Union Digital President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Henry Rhoel Aguda, along with PLDT Inc. President and CEO Alfredo Panlilio, presented several workplans as well as recommendations to address prevailing challenges concerning cybersecurity breaches and strategies to strengthen the national cybersecurity program.
Based on the presentation, Critical Information Infrastructure accounted for PhP2.4 trillion in 2022, providing basic services in various sectors such as water, government, transportation, energy, banking and telecommunications. Citing a 2021 report from the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) on the state of Philippine government information security survey, cybersecurity breaches resulted in 59% private data theft and 57% caused disruptions in public services. The report also mentioned that 60% of government agencies do not have computer emergency response team and another 60% of the agencies do not implement cyber hygiene activities.
According to their data, the Philippines ranks 4th worldwide in the number of cyberattacks, with a phishing attack occurring 8.7 times per minute. This resulted in approximately 4.5 million phishing incidents recorded in 2022, and 85% of the companies in the Philippines recognize the potential for cybersecurity attacks to disrupt their operations within the next 24 months.
In response, PSAC officials presented several recommendations to combat cybersecurity threats. These include conducting a technical working group (TWG) to discuss pending bills in the Senate, such as the Senate Bill No. 1365 or the Cybersecurity Act, which would institutionalize and strengthen the National Cybersecurity Inter-Agency Committee; Senate Bill No. 2039 or the Anti-Mule Act, which prohibits money mules and other fraudulent acts involving bank accounts, e-wallets and other financial accounts; and Senate Bills No. 2150 and No. 2385, which institutionalize online site blocking of websites displaying pirated content to protect the creative industry and consumers from the inherent dangers of online content piracy.
They urged the Chief Executive to issue an Executive Order (EO) mandating minimum information security standards for Critical Information Infrastructure in accordance with the National Cybersecurity Plan. They also called for the prioritization of the said Senate Bills as legislation, and for the initiation of a whole-of-government approach to combat cybersecurity threats.
Other recommendations include launching a Data Unity Summit that would drive awareness, adoption and governance of innovative data technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), data analytics and cybersecurity. The Summit would also serve as a platform to discuss data-related topics such as Cybersecurity, National ID and Data Localization, among others.
Furthermore, they recommended creating a national mobile device database and an anti-financial crimes command center through legislation, as this initiative would help combat cyber criminals by providing mobile device security and detective capabilities against cybercrime.
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