VP Binay - Cybersecurity Crucial to National Sovereignty

VICE President Jejomar Binay stressed the need to improve the cyber security capabilities of the country, citing the importance of a beefed up cybersecurity infrastructure and the need for information and communications industries given the “reality of cyber attacks.”

Speaking during the conclusion of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Development and Cyber Security Enhancement Workshop of the National Defense College of the Philippines (NDCP), the Vice President said “(a) country’s information systems may be less tangible than its physical borders but these are in no way less valuable to a nation’s sovereignty.”

Binay said that the internet has become a “borderless venue of information technology” that has become “the most resilient and reliable infrastructure for personal propaganda,” citing as example recent cybersecurity threats, including the defacement of several government websites by Chinese hackers as a result of the on-going dispute over the Panatag Shoal.

The Vice President said that the Philippines recognizes the “crucial truths” of these recent events.

“Left untamed and unbridled, these new breed of criminals will push the very limits of system security,” he said.

“Cyber attacks on a national scale make or break a nation’s political and economy position. If no global collaborative effort is credibly organized and upheld, it is doubtful that any country will be equipped to readily and effectively respond to the cyber attacks of the future,” Binay, an alumnus of the NDCP, added.

Binay said that in response to this growing concern, the lawmakers have been pushing for the passage of the Cyber Security Act of 2012.
“This seminal legislation aims to create and protect an environment conducive to development, acceleration, and rational application of information and communications technology without sacrificing the integrity and confidentiality of computers, computer and communications systems, networks, and databases,” he said.

He added that no less than the United States has made cyber security a high priority.

“Increased investments in resilient security measures are being made as US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta reveals that cyber threats are growing rampant every day and without proper capabilities to counter these threats, any country can be paralyzed,” Binay said.

“Both the private and public sectors risk the most painful losses and as such we must stand shoulder to shoulder if we are to guarantee safety if not victory,” he added.

Meanwhile, in the same workshop, retired Army Maj. Gen. Ernesto Ardanas has proposed the creation of a cybersecurity institute in the NDCP that would serve as a hub for the development and safeguarding of ICT facilities in response to national security issues.