MANILA -- Leading Israeli cyber companies shared their expertise with representatives from different Philippine government agencies and private firms on Wednesday amid the growing threats of cyberattacks in the Philippines. 

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The head of the Israel Economic Mission, Tomer Heyvi, said this is the first time that an Israeli trade delegation on cybersecurity, composed of 10 companies, visited Manila. 

“The idea here is to generate talks, generate discussions that will eventually lead to successful partnerships. That's what we need to do to boost the cybersecurity resilience of the Philippines together with Israeli know-how and technologies,” said Heyvi. 

Israel Ambassador to the Philippines Ilan Fluss, who also attended the forum, admitted that Israel itself has been exposed to its fair share of cybersecurity attacks. He hopes that both countries can learn more from one another through exchanges of information and practices.

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“Israel is, unfortunately, one of the most attacked countries globally. So we have a lot of experience and a lot of practices and technologies and we would like to share with the Philippines in dealing with the challenges over here. It's a global phenomenon, but I think the Philippines more so,” said Fluss. 

Fluss also expressed openness to collaborate with both the Philippine public and private sectors. 

Over the last few days, the Israeli trade delegation on the cybersecurity had also met with officials of the Philippine National Police, the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC), the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, as well as members of the Bankers Association of the Philippines. 

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In a statement, the CICC said they tackled various innovation including digital intelligence, investigative analytics, penetration testing, fraud prevention and defense communication.