Senators alarmed government powerless to counter cyber threats

MANILA, Philippines – Senators on Monday expressed “grave concern” about the government’s lack of measures to counter cybersecurity threats facing the country, especially with the possible entry of a telecommunications company that is partially owned by China.

Senator Grace Poe, chair of the Senate Committee on Public Services, expressed her dismay at the admission of officials from the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), as well as the National Security Council (NSC), that the Philippines still not having enough mechanisms to combat the raging cybersecurity warfare.

“This is really the problem. We are talking about the Dito Telecommunications franchise, and one of the issues that are being raised, and I think precisely, is how we protect ourselves, knowing that a certain percentage of property is owned by a foreigner, “said Poe.

“How can the government assure us that it has made a fair assessment of our security, of our sovereignty, if we don’t even have a proper cybersecurity group to do the assessment?” added during the online hearing on the franchise applications of Dito Telecom and Instant Data Inc.

No real mechanism

The senator reacted sharply to statements by the DICT and the NSC led by Secretary Hermogenes Esperon Jr. that allegedly indicated that no government entity was handling cybersecurity concerns.

“I know, Secretary Esperon, you are writing this and that, but when it comes to the actual mechanism in place, if we have a threat, there really is no plan,” Poe said.

“So how can we say that we are safe when we don’t have a mechanism to determine if we are safe or not?” she said.

Esperon clarified that the cybersecurity group of the Armed Forces of the Philippines was fulfilling the function of evaluating the prevailing threats of cyber attacks. “That is why we need to fund the DICT so they can have an operations center for lawful interception,” he said.

Senator Risa Hontiveros raised concerns about the presence of “state-sponsored” piracy in foreign countries, mainly groups based in China that are carrying out attacks on behalf of the Chinese government.

Code Name: Naikon

He cited reports that the China-based hacking group, codenamed Naikon, had been “quietly conducting a five-year cyber-espionage campaign” against governments in the Asia-Pacific region, including Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, and Brunei.

But just when Hontiveros asked Esperon if the NSC had monitored Naikon’s activities, the secretary said he did not listen to their question due to connection problems. This led Poe to jokingly say that the bugs could be part of “sabotage.”

“What is ironic is that [this happens] while saying things that are important. Secretary, I think a message is being sent, ”Poe said, addressing Esperon.

Hontiveros reiterated his apprehension about granting a franchise to Dito Telecom, which is 40 percent owned by ChinaTel.

“ChinaTel is not a private corporation (but) a representative of a Chinese regime trying to press its weight and impose its will on the region,” he said.

Under Chinese law, a Chinese corporation is required to cooperate in intelligence gathering efforts, Hontiveros said.

Beijing proxy

“By allowing a representative of the Chinese government to establish networks in the country, as well as facilities in our military camps, it is reasonable to conclude that a state-sponsored hacking group can easily step foot on our doorstep,” said the senator. said.

Telecommunications engineer Pierre Galla of Demoracy.net.ph said the country had not yet established a “cyber defense doctrine” to guide the AFPs and the intelligence community in fighting threats in the digital landscape, including those posed by state sponsored hacking groups.

According to Galla, the DICT established a Cybersecurity Management System Project to serve as a security operations center for the DICT, the Office of the President, the NSC, the Office of Presidential Communications Operations, the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency and the departments of defense, finance, energy, foreign affairs. affairs and budget departments.

“But it seems that due to the lack of mention of this security operations center, it may not be working. Maybe it’s expensive paperwork that we’ve thought about preparing, ”he said.

Due to a series of “sensitive” questions about national security that specialists declined to answer, the Senate committee agreed to hold a separate “executive session” but not online.

“From what we know, if we hold the executive session online, our lines will continue to be hacked,” said Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri.

Poe called the executives of the second franchise applicant, Instant Data, whose president was unable to go online for the audience due to “connectivity issues.”

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