Cybersecurity professionals in the Philippine government are resigning because they aren’t being paid their worth.
During a discussion on ANC, Assistant Secretary Renato Paraiso of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) expressed concerns about the “brain drain” in the government’s cybersecurity sector. He pointed out a significant disparity in compensation, leading to a concerning talent gap in a sector critical to national security. Paraiso also emphasized the importance of upskilling and training these workers.
Additionally, Paraiso also addressed software vulnerabilities in government agencies. He clarified that while the primary role of the DICT is to provide technical advice on software procurement in line with international standards, it is up to the respective government agencies to follow the DICT’s recommendations.
In the same interview with ANC’s Karen Davila, Paraiso discussed the DICT’s urgent proposal for a comprehensive firewall to combat cyber threats. This urgency was underscored by a recent cyberattack where the website of the House of Representatives was defaced by intruders. The site has since been recovered and restored.
Earlier in September, the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) fell victim to the Medusa ransomware. The hackers demanded $300,000 (around Php17 million) for the decryption of stolen data and its deletion from the dark web. Per the DICT’s investigation, the ransomware exploited exposed servers via the Remote Desktop Protocol.
To check if your data has been compromised, the NPC has released a portal called “Na-leak ba ang Philhealth Data ko?”.