Philippines Warns Of Cyber Intrusions Aiming At Sensitive Government Data

The government of the Philippines announced this Tuesday that foreign malicious actors attempted to access their intelligence data.

According to Reuters, the minister for information and communications Ivan Uy said they noticed multiple attempts to steal data but hackers failed to breach the government’s system.

“These have been present for quite some time, and threats come from many actors, but a big majority of them are foreign,” said Uy to Reuters. “Why are these things operating in those systems, without even anybody calling it out?”

The Advanced Persistent Threats have not attacked critical infrastructures and the government’s security and safety systems have been working properly, but authorities acknowledged difficulties in identifying the attackers as they leave misleading traces.

The Philippines is already working with other organizations, countries, and military forces—through diplomatic strategies—to address this situation, strengthen defenses, and validate threats.

Last year, hackers from China attempted to break into email systems and websites in the Philippines, but authorities also prevented this.

“World War III is happening and it is cyber,” added Uy. “These weapons are non-kinetic. They are cyber, digital, virtual, but it’s happening, but the attacks and defenses are happening as we speak, without any physical manifestation.”

The minister also raised concerns about the surge of deepfakes, disinformation, and misinformation created with the help of AI tools, viewing them as an increasing threat to democratic governments.

A recent British study also warned about AI misinformation and noted the increasing risk of bank runs.