The Japanese government, through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), pledged to continue supporting the Philippines in bolstering its cyberdefense capabilities and safeguarding critical information infrastructures (CIIs).
At the opening of the Critical Information Infrastructures Protection (CIIP) Summit in Parañaque City, JICA Chief Representative Sakamoto Takema emphasized the agency’s commitment to working collaboratively with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to address cybersecurity threats comprehensively.
Acknowledging the Philippines’ progress in the United Nations Global Cybersecurity Index, from 61st in 2020 to 53rd in 2024, JICA recognizes that ongoing threats to the country’s digital landscape persist.
A report from Kaspersky ranked the Philippines fourth globally in terms of web threats in 2023 and first in Southeast Asia for the most hacker attacks.
JICA, DICT collaboration
To address these challenges, JICA is supporting the DICT through a two-year Capacity Development for Cybersecurity project. This initiative involves deploying Japanese experts to assist in developing the Philippines’ cybersecurity defenses.
The project, which began in 2023, has been instrumental in strengthening the DICT’s capabilities through targeted training, knowledge exchange, and enhanced interagency coordination.
Cybersecurity as a national security concern
A lawmaker meanwhile is urging the DICT to consider cybersecurity as a national security concern.
Senator Win Gatchalian has urged the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to tackle and address the country’s cybersecurity as a national security concern to deter cyber-attacks against major infrastructure.
“My suggestion is to think of cybersecurity as a national security concern in the absence of a law,” Gatchalian said as quoted in a news release on Thursday.
“There should be a sense of urgency because the more that the world is connected, the more that we are prone to cyberattacks. We should be wary of this type of vulnerability in our country.”
Cybersecurity audit
Gatchalian said the government needs to ensure that the cybersecurity capability of critical infrastructure such as the country’s electric transmission lines, certain airports, and water distribution, among others, are properly audited.
“Because these infrastructures are privately managed, the government does not have the power to audit their capability in so far as cybersecurity is concerned. Nakakatakot ‘yun (It’s scary),” he said.
In the case of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), for instance, there has been a running conversation relating to vulnerability to cyber-attacks of the country’s transmission backbone, he said in a report.
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