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MANILA — A data expert on Saturday urged the government to invest more on cybersecurity, which includes hiring more tech specialists, as several agencies have fallen victims to cyber attacks.

• Despite being top BPO player, PH has fewer cybersecurity experts than rivals: study

This comes after state insurer PhilHealth and the Philippine Statistics Authority recently reported data breaches. Weeks after, the De La Salle University also experienced a "cybersecurity incident."

• PhilHealth members urged to update online credentials amid data breach

Dominic Ligot said it was also important that aside from software, government should also invest on tech experts as the country shifts to digital.

"Ikakasama nila 'yan if I say we need to lobby for more cyber investment. And then sa taumbayan... cyber literacy," Ligot said over Teleradyo Serbisyo.

"Paano natin gagawin 'yun? Via [the National Privacy Commission]. Maybe the school should start teaching it," he said.

Companies must also begin drills on cyber attacks, as the first 24 hours are "crucial to secure the rest" of the data.

• PhilHealth may be liable for data privacy violations: expert

Being proactive during these incidents must also be "instinctive" to the public or employees, said Ligot, most especially to those in firms handling huge data.

"Wala tayong cyber drill. Paano pag nagkaroon ng breach, what do you do? Kaya lahat ng tao nasha-shock agad," he said.

"Mas mabilis ang impact ng isang cyber breach. Yung lindol, puwede mo pang diskartehan. Huwag kang malaglagan ng shell and all that kaya siya pina-practice," he said.

The Philippines in 2021 had only 202 cybersecurity professionals with Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certifications, considered to be the gold standard in the industry, according to a USAID-supported study by IBM.

Singapore has 2,804 CISSP holders, the study noted.

When compared to other top BPO countries, the Philippines’ had fewer CISSP holders than Thailand, Mexico, Malaysia, Brazil, Poland, and significantly less than India, Japan, and China, based on the study.

PHILHEALTH PORTAL

The expert, meanwhile, recognized government's efforts to minimize the impact of the recent data breach on PhilHealth.

He urged the public to check whether or not their information were included in the data breach.

It can be accessed here: https://philhealthleak.privacy.gov.ph/