FROM the official website of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) to the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), and even the private website of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., these were the recent targets of hacking attempts originating from China.
The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) has discovered that the internet protocol address of the hacker comes from ‘China Unicom,’ a Chinese state-owned telecommunications operator.
However, the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center, an attached agency of the DICT, clarified that while the detected IP address is from China, it does not necessarily mean that the Chinese Government is behind the said cyberattacks.
In this regard, China, according to DICT Secretary Ivan John Uy, will assist in tracing the perpetrators behind the attempted breaches of the country’s government websites.
“Cooperation has to come, you know, as a mutual activity. So, they are willing to help, they have mentioned that if we can share with them what happened, they [China] will try to locate where and who did it,” DICT Secretary Ivan John Uy stated.
However, Uy clarified that while China is cooperating in the investigation, it is not their role to conclude that the cyberattack has nothing to do with the issue of the South China Sea.
Furthermore, the secretary emphasized that it is still too early and everything is possible.
“In cyber investigations and in analyzing all of this, we never rule out anything. Everything is in the realm of the possible, but we always maintain open arms. Anyone who wants to cooperate, you know, we don’t reject those offers and then see where we go from there,” Uy added.
Amidst the hacking attempts on several government websites in the Philippines, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., calls for vigilance and caution to protect the country’s cyber infrastructure.
However, according to the department of information and communications technology, this responsibility is not solely of one person or agency.
“We have to take it as a whole, not just a whole-of-government approach, but a whole-of-nation approach. The responsibility of protecting our cyber borders does not only lie with the DICT or with the defense [department], but with each and every Filipino to be more vigilant and to be more aware of any of these attempts,” said Uy.
The DICT advises the public to remain vigilant and not to be gullible as cybercriminals are becoming more sophisticated in today’s times.
