DICT logo and SIM cards. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) on Tuesday said it is upgrading its systems and equipment to boost its capabilities to address cyber attacks, especially against text scams.
DICT Secretary Ivan Uy made the pronouncement after a resurgence of text scams, which he cited to be caused by scammers continuously “upgrading their game.”
“We’re going after that. We are acquiring new systems and new equipment to do so because these scammers continually upgrade their game and continually acquire new equipment,” said Uy in a press conference when asked
According to Uy, scammers previously needed access to telecom networks but have now opted for “man-in-the-middle” attacks through fake cell sites.
“All they have to do is just park their car with that equipment, marami na kaming nahuli (we’ve already apprehended a lot of them), we call it drive-by hacking, they load those equipment in vehicles and they drive around and then when they park it outside an establishment … and then they misdirect all the cellphones to think that it is a legitimate telco site and they capture all those numbers,” explained Uy.
The scammers, said Uy, then generate a text blast to all captured numbers which could contain whatever information they want to trick cell phone users.
Due to this, Uy said the DICT is actively deploying assets to locate and intercept cyber scammers.
READ: DICT says hacking during Christmas season an issue of awareness
Meanwhile, Apart from text scams, Uy also noted that the DICT has observed an increase in disinformation in social media, especially with the nearing 2025 elections.
“So the department is addressing this by making all the different sectors, not just the government sector but the private sector, be more aware of their cybersecurity preparedness, and at the same time, advising them on how to harden their respective infrastructure or information systems,” said Uy.