Philippines cybersecurity capability upgraded

MANILA, Philippines —  The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center  (CICC) is upgrading its cybersecurity defense and investigative capabilities.

New equipment that can track money stolen by cyber scammers is expected to arrive as early as next week, according to CICC deputy executive director Mary Rose Magsaysay.

The new tools will enable the CICC to track stolen money even if it is already funneled into exchanges that are supposed to hide it from recovery.

The CICC currently has a 100 percent case resolution score, which includes major incidents of hacking of government websites and domains, Magsaysay said.

“With regards to hacking and breaches, we get it within 30 minutes,” she said.

Hacking was a regular problem faced by state cybersecurity forces, she noted.

“All countries are being hacked full-time, big-time because it’s cheaper to do that than to do an actual crime itself,” she added.

All government sites are prey for cybercrime, she noted.“The Cybersecurity Bureau is in charge.

We have a National CERT (Computer Emergency Response Team) in charge of all these,” she said.

“And once they see that there is a vector of attack, they give it to the CICC, and we really look for it,” she added.