China is willing to cooperate in the investigation on the series of hacking incidents against government websites in the Philippines, Information and Communications Secretary Ivan Uy said Thursday.
“They have reached out to ask if we can do some cooperation,” Uy said in a press briefing in Malacañang.
“We are open to working with everybody,” he added.
The Department of Information and Communications Technology earlier said culprits of the hacking attacks operated within China’s territories, targeting websites that include the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, the Philippine Coast Guard, and President Marcos’ personal website.
China said it does not condone or encourage “all forms of cyberattacks.”
“China is a major victim of cyberattack. We keep a firm stance against all forms of cyberattacks and resort to lawful methods in tackling them. China does not encourage, support or condone attacks launched by hackers,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Twitter.
As this developed, the Philippines placed 30th among 163 countries with the most accounts that were breached in 2023, according to a study of cybersecurity company Surfshark.
This was an improvement from the country’s 26th ranking in 2022, according to the study.
Surfshark said the Philippines had 705,470 breached accounts in 2023, lower compared to the 1,369,604 record in 2022.
Uy said the DICT routinely investigates all types of threats from all sectors and sources, including those originating from outside the country.
“We take those things very seriously and we actually have built up more competencies in detecting early on, any of those attempts to hack into not just government systems, but also private corporations. There have been some private institutions that were also compromised by ransomware,” he said.
“There are many criminal organizations, mercenaries, cyber hackers hiding in different countries and using their talents in bad ways. So, coordination among different countries is important to work together and go after these groups,” Uy added.
He said the DICT also presented to the President the “comprehensive” National Cybersecurity Plan (NCP) covering 2024 to 2028.
He said the National Cybersecurity Plan will serve as a blueprint that provides policy direction and operational guidelines to build up the country’s cybersecurity posture.