Davao City, December 11, 2023 – The Development Administration Committee (DAC) XI conducted its 4th quarter CY 2023 meeting on December 11, 2023 via Zoom videoconference. The meeting was presided by Private Sector Representative (PSR) for Indigenous People and DAC XI Co-Chairperson Augusto S. Blanco, Jr.

Engr. Albert C. Gabriel of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) XI presented the Basic Concepts on Cybersecurity and how it can be implemented in government offices. Engr. Gabriel informed the Committee that based on DICT’s database, majority of the reported cybercrime incidences in the country were attacks on government and emergency services, citing major incidences such as the breach in the Comelec’s voter databases in 2016 and the Medusa ransomware infection on PhilHealth Systems in September 2023.

Engr. Gabriel stated that the fundamental consideration for cybersecurity is the protection of the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of an organization’s online assets. He also shared that there are 3 pillars of cybersecurity that needs to be strengthened in an organization, which is the people, process and technology, stating that the implementation of cybersecurity is the responsibility of everyone in the organization.

With this, DICT XI recommended that all government offices, including Local Government Units (LGUs), State Universities and Colleges (SUCs), and Government-Owned or Controlled Corporations (GOCCs) create their Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT), which shall be responsible for the protection against, detection of and response to cybersecurity

incidents. DICT XI also recommended that each government office shall craft their respective Cybersecurity Manual, in order to improve the resiliency of government offices against cyber-attacks.

-Pamela N. Yparraguirre, NEDA XI