MANILA — Some cybersecurity experts working in government are leaving due to low pay, an official warned Tuesday as several agencies suffered attacks on their systems.

"The bigger issue is a brain drain of cybersecurity experts here in our country," Information and Communications Technology Assistant Secretary Renato Paraiso told ANC.

According to Paraiso, there is a significant pay gap between cybersecurity experts in government and local private firms. Many cybersecurity experts get higher salaries in the private sector.

"There is a need for the government to upskill, train cybersecurity experts inside government," he added.

Data Ethics PH founder Dominic Ligot on Monday flagged the shortage of cybersecurity expertise in government agencies.

The House of Representatives website on Sunday went offline after hackers gained "unauthorized access" and defaced parts of it. The website is now restored.

Other agencies with confirmed breaches include the Philippine Health Insurance Corp., the Philippine Statistics Authority, the Philippine National Police, and the Department of Science and Technology.

Paraiso also said that the government lacks a system that will serve as an initial firewall for "threat actors."

He said their proposed P300 million in confidential funds — which was scrapped by the House along with other civilian agencies — would be used for this as well as for the training of their cybersecurity personnel.

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