New DICT chief wants to ramp up cybersecurity, cybercrime detection

FILE PHOTO: A hooded man holds a laptop computer as a blue screen with an exclamation mark is projected on him in this illustration picture taken on May 13, 2017. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/Illustration

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) under the new administration is seeking to beef up the country’s cybersecurity and cybercrime detection, its new secretary said.

“We want to improve our cybersecurity, napakaraming instances po ng mga breaches ng mga website natin and at the same time on the cybercrime detection, I’m sure marami po tayong mga kababayan nakakatanggap ng mga text, ng mga cyber scams,” DICT Secretary Ivan Uy said during Monday’s Laging Handa briefing.

(We want to improve our cyber security, there were a lot of instances wherein our websites have been breached at the same time we want to strengthen our cybercrime detection, I’m sure a lot of Filipinos have received cyber scam texts.)

“We need to address all of these, maraming reklamo ang ating mga kababayan, and tama po naman ang mga hinaing nila at tutugunan po natin ito as soon as we settle down and we roll up our sleeves and start working on this,” he added.

(We need to address all of these, there are a lot of complaints about this and their concern is valid and we will address this as soon as we settle down and roll up our sleeves and start working on this.)

Uy, an IT expert, also said the DICT would be pushing for better digital access by ensuring improved connectivity in far-flung areas.

“We will definitely push for better e-governance so that we are able to deliver government service more efficiently and effectively and [fewer] opportunities for corruption across all agencies,” he also said.

The new DICT chief, meanwhile, flagged the state of the agency’s operations, saying he has “many knots” to “untangle” as the transition to a new leadership continues.

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