5-2-2024 (MANILA) The House of Representatives has urged the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to promptly provide a briefing regarding recent cybersecurity breaches carried out by hackers based in China on government websites.
House Speaker Martin Romualdez emphasized the need for the DICT to conduct the briefing “as soon as possible,” preferably this week, during a hearing chaired by the House committees on public information and information and communications technology.
Last week, the DICT reported successfully foiling attempts to hack into the government websites of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration.
DICT Undersecretary for Cybersecurity Jeff Ian Dy revealed that the IP address of the attackers was traced back to China Unicom or China United Network Communications Group, a state-owned telecommunications firm. However, Dy could not definitively establish whether the Chinese government was involved in the hacking attempt.
In addition to the government server breaches, the DICT also disclosed incidents of “spyware or espionage” activities attempting to access government email addresses associated with the PCG, the National Coast Watch, and the DICT itself.
Dy further stated that the hackers targeted the email addresses of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., his Cabinet, and various other government websites, including the policy and research arm of the House.
The revelation of hackers, suspected to be operating from China, infiltrating the email systems and internal websites of government agencies, has raised concerns about national security and public interest, noted Romualdez, the House leader.
“The fact that these breaches have targeted critical domains such as cabsec.gov.ph, coastguard.gov.ph, cpbrd.congress.gov.ph, dict.gov.ph, doj.gov.ph, and ncws.gov.ph, in addition to the private domain of President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr, signifies a dire need for an immediate and comprehensive response,” added Romualdez.
The upcoming hearings will focus on understanding the nature and extent of the cyber-attacks, assessing the government’s preventive measures against future incidents, and discussing strategies to enhance the country’s cybersecurity infrastructure.
Romualdez emphasized the importance of transparency by stating that the hearings should be open to the public, promoting public trust and awareness in cybersecurity matters.
