Boost defense vs cybercrime, lawmaker urges gov’t

FILE PHOTO: A hooded man holds a laptop computer as cyber code is projected on him in this illustration picture taken on May 13, 2017. Top U.S. fuel pipeline operator Colonial Pipeline has shut its entire network after a cyber attack, the company said on Friday. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/Illustration/

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Grace Poe said that the government must maintain a strong defense against cybercrime attacks.

“As keepers of vital information of the people, the government must institute the most secure firewall against cybercrime,” Poe said in a statement on Wednesday.

The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (Philhealth) last month temporarily shut down affected online systems after computer hackers attacked the website and its application system.

The computer hackers managed to take down the systems of Philhealth on Friday and blocked access to the site for more than 24 hours.

On Monday, PhilHealth said that only the database of its employees were compromised.

Poe also tasked the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to make sure that the security systems of government departments are protected against cyber threats.

“We call on the DICT and relevant agencies to conduct regular checks on the integrity of the security systems of government departments to ensure they are protected against hackers,” Poe added.

RELATED STORIES:

PhilHealth blames hack on new procurement rules

PhilHealth: Cyberattack hits only employees’ database not of members

 gsg
Read more...