Man-made disasters and natural calamities present serious threat to the Philippines, an isolated archipelago in Southeast Asia located in the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea) and the Pacific Ocean.
The standoff between Philippine and Chinese vessels near the disputed Panatag Shoal (Scarborough Shoal) located west of Luzon in April 2012 triggered a cyber warfare that compromised the integrity of sensitive information in the Philippines.
Patriotic sentiments flared up during the standoff, with Chinese hackers defacing Philippine government websites and Filipino hackers doing the same on Chinese websites. The extent of the damage in the Philippines was serious enough to cause the shutdown of several important websites and exposed the vulnerability of the country to cyber security threats.
Between April and May this year, anonymous hackers from China defaced the homepages of the state-run University of the Philippines, media outfits like the Philippine News Agency and The Philippine Star, Department of Budget and Management, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), and three websites of the Office of the President-Official Gazette, the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office and the Presidential Museum and Library.
The most serious damage was reported by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) which was forced offline on April 25, 2012, following two hacking attacks. The hackers planted a Chinese flag on the DBM website along with a caption that it was “Hacked! Owned by Chinese Hackers?!”
Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said the website was inaccessible until critical issues were resolved. He later claimed that “all important data in the website have not been compromised, and we are taking additional measures to reinforce the security of our servers and prevent future attacks.”
The website of the DBM is one of the most important government websites that contain critical information. The fact that it was targeted during the standoff at Panatag Shoal where no actual exchange of fires took place only showed that cyber warfare is now a reality in the region.
The question is whether the government and other important national institutions have the capability to prevent, withstand or extinguish such cyber attacks. Secretary Abad, after the DBM website was targeted, issued an alert to other agencies about possible vulnerabilities of their respective websites.
Such a reminder should also serve as a wakeup call for defense agencies, with their own information technology systems as well as financial institutions that now conduct transactions online.
It would do well for the government to tap international companies with strong experience in integrated cyber security solutions that safeguard mission-critical systems against the widest range of internal and external threats.
Government agencies and private sector websites require defensive solutions that can constantly monitor and protect against breach, fraud, theft and sabotage. Such solutions should not only be reactionary, but must anticipate, withstand, recover and evolve from cyber attacks and new threats as they emerge.
Aside from cyber attacks and other man-made disasters, one area that should be given more attention is the vulnerability of the country to natural disasters.
In October 2012, the United Nations University’s Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS), the German Alliance for Development Works (Alliance), and the US-based The Nature Conservancy, ranked the Philippines as the third most disaster-prone country in the world.
The World Disaster Report 2012 ranked the Philippines behind the Pacific countries Tonga and Vanuatu. The report said these three countries, owing to their proximity to the sea, are “particularly exposed to the natural hazards of cyclones, flooding and sea level rise.”
About 20 typhoons enter the Philippine area of responsibility each year, making it the most susceptible country to strong winds and flash floods. The Philippines is also located along the Pacific Ring of Fire where strong earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions occur.
Each year, hundreds of people die and thousands, if not millions are displaced, every time a major natural calamity strikes. Although disasters cannot be stopped, the death toll could be minimized if people are properly warned.
This is why a warning system about incoming typhoon, flash flood or tsunami is important. So far, the country’s warning system is almost non-existent, with only the traditional media delivering information to people who may be affected by an incoming disaster. In case of a disaster, an on-the-spot warning alert is crucial.
It is important that the government invest in a cutting-edge global disaster warning, response and recovery system like the ones used in advanced countries. Such systems combine commercial satellites and communication systems to deliver an integrated and real-time emergency alert and recovery tool for use in disasters such as tsunamis and typhoons. Residents, including those in remote areas, can be properly alerted through mobile phones or satellite-radio receivers about an imminent disaster.
The lives of the people and the sanctity of government information should not be compromised, and it is up to the government to do the best it can to protect them.
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