Poe: Strengthen firewall of government websites

Grace Poe —SENATE PRIB

Sen. Grace Poe on Sunday called on the government to strengthen the firewall system of government agencies’ websites as she expressed alarm over fresh cyberattack attempts.

“The fresh attempt to hack a government website is alarming and outraging,” she said in a statement.

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) on Saturday said that it had blocked cyberattacks from “within China” on the web applications of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (Owwa), and on the mailboxes of the DICT itself, the Philippine Coast Guard and President Marcos’ official website.

Communications and Technology Undersecretary Jeffrey Ian Dy said the attempted hacking of Owwa’s web applications about three weeks ago was made from an internet protocol address traced to a location in China, which he did not disclose.

Poe said that while the DICT foiled the intrusion attempts, this was still “a stark reminder that cyberattacks have become bolder and more relentless.”

“Concerned government agencies should take a cue from the findings of the DICT on the suspected source of threat actors on our privacy and security,” she said, adding that “fortifying website firewall and systems should be the task of all agencies maintaining online presence.”

READ: CHR expresses alarm over hacking of gov’t office websites

Poe stressed that the government should explore all means to keep the people’s data secure and uncompromised.

Dy said the attackers were “coming from China Unicorn,” a Chinese state-owned telecommunications company. He said they would need to coordinate with the company for the investigation.

He also said the DICT, in cooperation with Google, also thwarted separate cyberattacks that targeted government email addresses and Google Workspaces. INQ