By Oliver Samson / Correspondent
LOBBYIST Angel Redoble is pushing for the incorporation of cybersecurity in the country’s formal education that, he said, could give birth of cyberspace nationalism.
The advancement in computer technology has looped millions of Filipinos in cyberspace, said Redoble, using the term coined in William Gibson’s 1984 novel Neuromancer. “Philippine society is increasingly getting looped in cyberspace.”
According to Redoble, president of the Philippine Institute of Cyber Security Professionals Inc., as “providers of basic services and commodities have become dependent on the internet to produce, store and distribute,” consciousness on security has become important.
Strategic industries, like water, power, energy, telecommunications, finance and banking, and transportation are connected to what Redoble referred to as a Supervisory control and data acquisition—or Scada—system. If a malicious group breach the Scada, that group becomes capable of shutting down facilities of a particular industry connected to it, according to him.
That group can shut down power stations even the national power grid with the tip of the finger to destabilize the economy or demand ransom, said Redoble, a lecturer on cyber warfare and security at the National Defense College.
“That will cause panic as electricity is required in the production and storage of goods. Everything will be affected,” Redoble told the Businessmirror at a hotel in Mandaluyong City.
Some of these groups were identified by Vicente Diaz of Kaspersky Lab ZAO Co. in April as cyber espionage groups Naikon and Hellsing. Diaz said the firm detected Naikon and Hellsing attacks against the Philippines and other Asian countries.
The Philippines should not take threats to its cyberspace for granted, according to Redoble.
“The highest level of security standard should be implemented by all sectors, especially critical industries.” According to Redoble, this could be possible if the state creates a policy that would mandate government agencies and the private sectors to adopt adequate safeguards from cyberattacks. “The same policy should integrate national cyberspace security into formal education.”
Image credits: Oliver Samson