'Phl growth vulnerable to cyber attacks'

MANILA, Philippines - Cyber attacks can wipe out the gains of economic growth and can drive away foreign investors, the chief of the country’s premiere institution on defense education said Tuesday.

Fermin de Leon Jr., president of the National Defense College of the Philippines (NDCP), said while the Philippines achieved a robust growth in the first quarter, cyber threats could affect efforts to sustain it.

“For example, if the banking and financing system is paralyzed by a cyber attack, you can imagine the cost in terms of millions of pesos and dollars per minute or per hour,” De Leon said in an interview.

“This (threat) can really affect our economy and even the defense and security. You can just extend your imagination on the magnitude of what a cyber attack can do,” he added.

The Philippine economy grew by 7.8 percent in the first quarter, buoyed by what officials described as improved business confidence and consumer optimism.

The country’s growth rate exceeded market forecasts and outpaced those of major East and Southeast Asian economies including China.

De Leon said cyber security threats could turn off private investors, one of the key sources of employment.

“When foreign investors and businessmen do not have the peace of mind to invest because of the prevalence of cyber attacks, they will not bring their investments here,” he said.

De Leon said all sectors should work together to find ways to address the risks posed by cyber threat, which he described as “a new emerging non-traditional security concern.”

Cyber security forum

Meanwhile, about 300 security practitioners worldwide will discuss key cyber security issues during the SecureAsia@Manila forum to be held in Makati Shangri-La Hotel from Aug. 7 to 8.

The even is being organized by (ISC)2, the largest membership body of certified information security professionals worldwide. The conference is also one of the highlights of the upcoming 50th anniversary celebration of the NDCP.

“We hope that the local information security practitioners and government officials can benefit from this regional event by exchanging experience with the luminaries that the conference draws from all over the world,” De Leon said.

“An increasingly sophisticated threat landscape, coupled with the advancement of technology, requires security professionals to keep abreast constantly of the latest strategies to ensure that their organizations’ infrastructure are secured,” said Clayton Jones, managing director for (ISC)2 Asia Pacific.

President Aquino has been invited to serve as the event’s keynote speaker. Also invited were Vice President Jejomar Binay and security experts from various countries.

Key conference topics include organized crime and cyber espionage forensics, malware analysis, understanding against uder-targeted attacks, and social media forensics.

Interested parties may visit http://www.informationsecurityasia.com/ for more information.