THE United States’ readiness to help the Philippine government in combatting cybercrimes and cyberattacks should be welcomed by all sectors of society.

Certainly, this is good news not only to state authorities but also to the Filipino people amid the “spate of hackings” in government websites over the past few weeks.

Note, however, that there is no specific request for assistance from the Philippines, but communication is ongoing on ways to address all types of cybercrimes, according to reports.

In a roundtable discussion last Wednesday, October 18, US Ambassador to the Philippines MaryKay Carlson said “we are already working closely on cyber issues.”

“We have a very active coordination on how we can together combat cybercrimes and cyberattacks of all types,” said the highly-articulate US ambassador.

She said cyber security is central to PH-US ties given that data from her country is also tied to PH data, especially with the country’s large business process outsourcing sector.

Reports said that the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation was earlier subjected to a ransomware attack, with cyberattackers demanding P17 million for the compromised database.

It was followed by the hacking of the Community-Based Monitoring System of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Cybercrime costs include stolen money, data dsamage and destruction, lost productivity, personal and financial data theft, intellectual property rights theft, fraud and embezzlement.

With the help of our friends in the international community, including the United States, the Philippines is seen to hit hard at cyberattackers.

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