Gov't beefs up cyber security

MANILA, Philippines - Amid the continuing threat of hacking attacks, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) said on Thursday that it will put an extra layer of security to all government email and other online transactions.

The DOST announced that the Philippine government's online assets will now have an additional layer of security with the introduction of Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), which uses digital certificates and dual encryption keys in securing data.

The PKI was launched at the opening of a four-day celebration of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Month held at the Department of Science and Technology’s ICT Office (DOST-ICTO) in Diliman, Quezon City.

Among the Universal Multi-purpose ID (UMID) agencies that stand to benefit from the use of PKI are the Social Security System, PhilHealth, PagIBIG, National Statistics Office and the Government Service Insurance System, which offer most of their services online.

Rene Mendoza, head of the PKI team of the DOST’s Integrated Government Philippines (iGovPhil) Project, said that the PKI will also be an integral part of other applications such as payment gateway system, NARMIS (National Archives and Records Management Information System), GovMail (Government Wide Email System) and other applications that will require secure communication and encryption.

Through the use of the certificates digitally signed by a Certificate Authority, the PKI ensures that transmitted data is authentic, valid and has not been tampered with in transit.

Data security is an essential component of the E-Government Master Plan and iGovPhil Project. Securing data transmitted between parties through PKI will enable the development of services and applications.

Soon digital certificates will be issued to private individuals to facilitate transactions with the government as well as to secure their personal electronic communication.

Only recently, several government websites were put down or defaced by hack attacks. The attacks seem to spike whenever the Philippines is locked in dispute with other countries claiming parts of the West Philippine Sea.