DICT: China willing to help in cyberattack probe

Philippine authorities are coordinating with Chinese counterparts in prosecuting those behind a series of cyberattacks, which were launched by hackers earlier believed to be operating from China.

At a Palace press briefing on Thursday, Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Ivan John Uy said China is willing to help in the investigation of the cyber crimes.

"Yes, actually, they have reached out to ask if we can do some cooperation. Dahil it's actually both ways. Cooperation has to come, you know, as a mutual activity. So, they are willing to help, they have mentioned that if we can share with them, kung ano iyong nangyari, para mahanap daw nila kung saan at sino iyong gumawa noon (they have mentioned that if we can share with them what happened so they can trace where and who carried out the attacks)," Uy said.

Last Saturday, the DICT said that hackers "believed to be advanced threat groups that operate within the ambit of Chinese territories" breached into the email systems and internal websites of several government agencies that used a cloud service provider.

In preventing a hack on the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) website, the DICT said it detected that the attackers' IP address came from Chinese state-owned telco China Unicom.

In the Philippine Senate, an investigation has been sought into the alleged Chinese state-sponsored attacks against government agencies, "including those directly involved in safeguarding national interests in the West Philippine Sea."

Face value

The Chinese Embassy in Manila has dismissed the "groundless" allegations that China engaged in cyber attacks against the Philippines.

Beijing does not allow any party to engage in cyber attacks, the embassy said, "on Chinese soil or using Chinese infrastructure."

Asked if the supposed hacking activity has something to do with the ongoing maritime dispute in the West Philippine Sea, Uy said it was still too early to make a conclusion on the matter, but anything was possible.

''Well, that’s not for us to come out with that conclusion yet ‘no. It’s too early. But anything is possible. So we just need to, I think, currently take it at face value and see how things develop,'' Uy said, adding that, "In cyber investigations and in analyzing all of this, we never rule out anything. Everything is in the realm of the possible, but we always maintain open arms. Anyone who wants to cooperate, you know, we don’t reject those offers and then see where we go from there."

Fighting cybercrime

Uy said the DICT was carrying out its own efforts to stop online criminals.

"In the Philippines, we are also arresting quite a few, if you would recall, noong nag-raid kami ng isang scam center sa may Pasay, where we arrested 600 individuals. Out of the 600, 200 of them were Chinese," he added.

(In the Philippines, we are also arresting quite a few, if you would recall, when we raided a scam center in Pasay, we arrested 600 individuals. Out of the 600, 200 of them were Chinese.)

The DICT had already communicated with each of the administrators of the email domains to plan the next course of action to prevent another cyberattack.

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has instructed the intensification of anti-cybercrime measures to prevent this kind of illegal activities. — VDV, GMA Integrated News