Press "Enter" to skip to content

Posts tagged as “Cybersecurity”

PH Government and Private Sector Unite for a Safer Internet

September 10, 2025

To create a safer online environment for Filipinos, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) are intensifying their campaign against the sale of illegal products on online platforms and social media.

This initiative, led by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s directive to ensure cyberspace safety, is a top priority for the DICT. According to DICT Secretary Henry Aguda, this effort requires a “digital bayanihan” or community cooperation. The DICT has been in contact with social media platforms and other government agencies to address the circulation of harmful content online.

CICC Acting Executive Director Atty. Renato Paraiso stated that the CICC enforces a zero-tolerance policy against online harm. He mentioned that social media and online selling platforms have agreed to comply with this directive and have their own mechanisms to sweep for and remove harmful content, including child pornography and deep fakes.

In addition to government action, the public is encouraged to be vigilant and report suspicious online activities and illegal product sales to the hotline 1326.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) also plays a role in this effort. DTI Assistant Secretary Valdez III highlighted the launch of the eCommerce Philippine Trustmark, which acts as a regulatory authority to ensure safety, prevent the sale of substandard products, and mitigate online fraud and scams.

Representatives from Shopee PH, TikTok PH, and Google Philippines attended the press conference, expressing their support for the government’s initiatives. The collaboration between the public and private sectors is seen as key to creating a secure digital environment for all Filipinos.

Source: DICT

PhilHealth issue another “Urgent Notice to the Public” in connection to the Cyberattack last Sept 22.

October 3, 2023

PhilHealth has once again release an announcement that they are calling “Urgent Notice to the Public,” this is in connection to the Cyberattack that was made last Sept 22. The health agency reiterates that no member information have been taken and that membership database is intact and unharmed by the cyberattack last Sept 22.

They later reminded the public to be cautious in opening malicious contents online and on social media, which I suppose, is directed to PhilHealth’s employees. The agency is also working with the authorities to catch the perpetrators.

PhilHealth is currently working with multiple agencies that includes Department of Communication Technology (DICT), National Privacy Commission (NPC), Philippine National Police Cybercrime Division, Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) and the National Bureau of Investigation(NBI) to identify the perpetrators of the hacking.

Here’s the announcement by PhilHealth:

PhilHealth previously posted a Urgent Notice to the Public explaining what information have been compromised in the cyberattack that happened last Sept 22. Below are compromised PhilHealth member’s information;

  • Name
  • Address
  • Date of Birth
  • Sex
  • Phone number
  • PhilHealth ID number

The Health agency also recommended a number of steps that affected PhilHealth Members can take as a precaution.

The hackers demanded a ransom of $300,000 or approximately P17 million as payment to decrypt the files but according to a report by CNN Philippines, “The DICT confirms that some PhilHealth data affected in the Medusa ransomware attack have been published in the dark web after the deadline to pay ransom money to hackers lapsed.”

Lithuania recommends to dispose your Chinese smartphones because of censorship issue

September 22, 2021

Lithuania’s Defense Ministry recently release a statement recommending that consumers avoid buying Xiaomi smartphones and suggests to people to throw away the ones they have after a government report found the devices had built-in censorship features.

Xiaomi’s Mi 10T 5G flagship smartphones, which is sold in Europe, have a built-in ability to detect and censor terms such as “Free Tibet”, “Long live Taiwan independence” or “democracy movement”, Lithuania’s Cybersecurity agency said on Tuesday, Sept. 21.

The built-in censorship features in Xiaomi’s smartphones software is turned off for the “European Union region”, but can be turned on remotely at any time, the Defence Ministry’s National Cyber Security Centre said in the report. National Cyber Security Centre also said that Xiaomi’s phone was sending encrypted phone usage data to a server in Singapore.

A similar security flaw was also found in the Huawei’s P40 5G smartphone but none was found in OnePlus phones, another Chinese phone maker, that has a strong presence in the European Union region.

Huawei’s representative in the Baltics told the BNS news wire its phones “do not process user’s data outside the Huawei device.”

The report added the list of “censored” terms which could be blocked by the Xiaomi phone’s system apps, including the default internet browser, currently includes 449 terms in Chinese and is continuously updated.

Source: Reuters