In the effort to fight against rising cybercrimes, the Philippines Government has taken a few steps recently, as reported by Philippines news agencies.
The Philippines' cyberspace houses a lot of potential revenue for its nation, and these include legal E-games and iGaming services, which recently contributed to the rise of the Philippines' GGR in the first quarter of 2024. Cybercrimes have the potential to harm these sources of national revenue, while also eroding the confidence in law enforcement, which is crucial for the development of E-games and iGaming as well as the gaming industry as a whole.
On one hand, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. adopted the National Cybersecurity Plan (NCSP) 2023 to 2028 to strengthen their efforts in anti-cybercrime, from detection and response to case build-up and to resolution.
“The latest threat that we have is cybercrime, where the emerging and evolving digital landscape faces threats that can undo its potential contribution to national growth,” The President himself was quoted from the report.
Aside from the NCSP, the Department of Information and Communications Technology’s (DICT) will also amend its Cloud First Policy in 2020 to provide “clearer directives on policy coverage, data classification and data security.”
On the other hand, Globe Telecom Inc, Philippine’s local telecommunications provider is collaborating with law enforcement agencies to stop the importation of spoofing devices used in cybercrimes such as SMS scams.
“We are working with the government to prevent the importation and use of IMSI catchers, which are the primary tools enabling these security breaches. We need more robust enforcement of the law concerning spoofing and the proliferation of this illegal equipment,” Globe general counsel Froilan Castelo was quoted.
The news of this cybercrime crackdown coincides with plans reported by PAGCOR in March to lower rates for casinos, both retail and online. In this, PAGCOR hopes to increase investment and licence applications in the nation - something that must be supported with strong cybersecurity. PAGCOR also recently hired a new President and COO in Wilma Eisma.
