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MANILA, Philippines — Beijing has offered its assistance after cyber attacks on Philippine government websites were traced back to a place in China.
The offer comes after the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) prevented attacks against the websites of the Philippine Coast Guard, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, and the website of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
At a Palace briefing on Thursday, Information and Communications Technology Secretary Ivan Uy was asked if the Chinese government had reached out to Philippine authorities on the matter.
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“Actually, they have reached out to ask if we can do some cooperation because it’s actually both ways,” Uy said in a mix of English and Filipino.
“Cooperation has to come, you know, as a mutual activity. So they are willing to help,” he added.
According to Uy, China has asked for more details regarding the hacking incidents so that it could look for the perpetrators inside its territory.
However, Uy also described the difficulty of catching hackers.
“Ang challenging are foreign threat actors, because they reside outside our jurisdiction, and sometimes, they hide behind certain countries that may harbor them for their own reasons,” Uy said.