DOF suggests shared cybersecurity setup to DICT
The Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez will suggest the adoption of a shared cybersecurity system to the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to stop further digital bank breaches in the country.
This proposal came after “a sophisticated fraud technique” has affected several clients of BDO Unibank and Union Bank of the Philippines (UBP).
In a statement, Dominguez said that he is “very aware” of client complaints on the banking system in the country. He added that he already brought up this matter to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the bank executives “as early as two weeks ago.”
A memorandum of agreement (MOAs) on a shared cyber-defense strategy was earlier instructed by the DOF chief to government financial institutions (GFIs), state-run pension funds and insurance agencies, and the revenue and treasury agencies.
Meanwhile, Senator Joel Villanueva said that the government should create an inter-agency task force to promptly come up with countermeasures to effectively “block digital pickpockets.”
Villanueva suggested that President Duterte could draw experts from the DICT, BSP, the National Privacy Commission, and the National Bureau of Investigation.
The senator stated that any delay in solving this problem could “corrode the public’s faith in our banking system.”
