DICT launches P508-million cybersecurity system

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) is bolstering the country’s efforts to combat cyberthreats as it kicked-off yesterday a P508-million cybersecurity management system project.

The cybersecurity management system is the government’s national platform for intelligence sharing which will consist of different components that will monitor threats coming in and out and defend Philippine infrastructure.

The centralized monitoring platform will help in enhancing the country’s ability to act on threats, before, during, and after attacks.

“If you have secure government, if you have secure infrastructure, secure energy sector, secure banks, then there’s nothing to worry about. If individuals are secure, then you can benefit from the use of technology. There will be no more worries or concerns that the information being handled by the government will not be safe. With this project, we can help all agencies in the country to be secure and be adaptive to all the changes in security,” Information and Communication Technology Assistant Secretary Allan Cabanlong said.

The first phase of the project will cater to 10 government agencies which were identified as priority agencies and complied to the requirements set by the DICT.

These agencies are the Office of the President, Department of Finance, Department of Energy, Department of Foreign Affairs, National Security Council, Department of Budget and Management, Presidential Communications Operations Office, National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, the Department of National Defense, and the DICT.

“We are here to help them build their network, secure their network, and monitor it with them. We will be helping them with technology and manage risk within the agency,” he said.

Cabanlong said at least 40 government agencies, including the first 10 that are part of the initial phase, have been identified as having “high impact to national security, economic stability, and technological stability.”

The cybersecurity management system project has been awarded to a joint venture between local firm Integrated Computer Systems (ICS) and Israeli company Verint.

The joint venture has been awarded with a three-year license and was given a notice to proceed with the project on Tuesday.

“Today marks a significant milestone as we launch the cybersecurity management project of the country headed by DICT. This a remarkable step toward achieving cyber resiliency for our country. ICS, in partnership with Verint Systems, one of the leading providers of cybersecurity platforms in the world, will undertake this project which will position our country among the advanced nations in national cybersecurity,” ICS president George Barcelon said.