LINA
BUREAU of Customs (BOC) commissioner Alberto Lina said the rising cases of cyberattacks continued to compromise government data and cause revenue losses of up to P64 billion every year for the agency.
The BOC expressed alarm as he acknowledged that up to 85 percent of the bureau鈥檚 IT system 鈥渋s compromised鈥� and needs to be protected from all forms of cyberattacks.
In 2015, he said, the BOC suffered a P64-billion deficiency mostly due to activities traced to cybercriminals.
In a countermove, the BOC has launched a partnership with IT giant Microsoft for the digitization of the bureau鈥檚 systems and services and the integration of its cybersecurity programs. The P170-million project will be implemented in the next three years.
According to Ferdie Saputil, director of Microsoft Public Sector, the company also engages other government agencies to promote transparency and security of government data.
Lina said a common cybercrime activity affecting the agency involves identity theft, wherein hackers posing as BOC agents try to obtain sensitive information about companies.
Lina said 鈥渨e have already been breached, it鈥檚 no longer an issue of defense for our (IT) system.鈥�
鈥淲e need to fortify internal operations, clean it up and come up with programs to identify cyberthreats,鈥� said Lina. 鈥淲e cannot start small, we need to create the perimeter in our system.鈥�