MUCH NEEDED TO BE DONE IN FIGHTING CYBER MENACE
FOR a police official who has been trained to fight cybercrime over the past 20 years, much really needs to be done to address the ever-growing threats posed by cyber-criminals in the country where Filipinos from all walks of life remain vulnerable to criminal attacks once they connect to the internet.
“This is the reason why we should focus on proactive defense, swift response and collaboration with all our partners here and abroad to combat cybercrime effectively,” said PNPAnti-Cybercrime Group director Brigadier General Bernard R. Yang in a talk with the Journal Group.
The reality that Filipinos will really become vulnerable to cyber-crime attacks lie in the fact that as of early 2024, there were nearly 118 million active mobile phone connections in the country.
They include elderly men and women who continues to be victimized by the so-called ‘Love Scam,’ young students, widows and widowers and individuals who are single who regularly fall prey to the notorious modus operandi called ‘sex-for-extortion’ or sextortion
A member of PNP Academy ‘Patnubay’ Class of 1995, Brig. Gen. Yang vowed to further strengthen the PNP-ACG’s cybersecurity infrastructure by adopting advanced technologies and strategies when he took over as head of the unit last December.
He said that when they were still working for the Computer Crime Unit of the Anti-Transnational Crime Division of the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in 2003, they were already battling not-so-ordinary criminals.
“In the hacking of the Journal Group and government websites in 2003, the suspect admitted to us that he just tested the vulnerability of those systems. It was just like in the Hollywood movie Die Hard 4 where the hero fought a computer hacker and a tech-savvy villain,” Brig. Gen. Yang said.
But 20 years later, hackers have already evolved into more hard-to-find foes, he said.
“This is the reason why we believe then that it will be the future of policing, when we have to really fight our enemies using top-of-the-line software technologies and using them to attack anybody connected to the internet,” the official said.
Brig. Gen. Yang said that since 2014, they have been going after syndicates involved in telecom fraud in the country and have smashed a number of them following operations that led to the arrest of hundreds of foreigners and their Filipino employees.
“These telecom fraud operators, I believe, are the same people who thought of organizing Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators or POGO facilities which have turned into scam farms in the country,” he said.
This is the reason why they have to really adopt advanced technologies and strategies. “We are in the process of building cutting-edge cyber defenses and strengthening the ACG’s cybersecurity infrastructure,” he said.
To do this, he said they are banking on the full support of PNP chief, General Rommel Francisco D. Marbil in investing in state-of-the-art security tools, threat detection systems and world-class training for their personnel.
Brig. Gen. Yang said he expects his men to respond swiftly to cyber threats and incidents as they develop a swift and coordinated response mechanism for these concerns.
“This involves creating dedicated cyber response teams, establishing clear protocols, and enhancing the capacity to handle real-time cyber threats and incidents, minimizing damage and recovery time,” said the former Southern Police District director.
Under Brig. Gen. Yang, the PNP-ACG arrested 106 persons wanted for cybercrime from January 1 to 31 this year. It was a huge improvement when it comes to tracking down wanted cybercriminals in the country considering that the monthly average arrest of the PNP-ACG in 2024 was only 50.
Official PNP-ACG records showed that in 2022, the unit accounted for 331 wanted persons followed by 265 in 2023 and a total of 257 in 2024.
At the rate arrests are being made by the PNP-ACG since the year started, Brig. Gen. Yang said they expect the number of wanted cyber-criminals to be hauled to jail this year to greatly soar.
In 2024, the PNP-ACG identified the Top 10 Prevalent Cybercrimes in the country as the following: Swindling/Estafa (6,190 complaints); Illegal Access (2,550 cases); Cyber-Libel (1,458 incidents); Computer-Related Identity Theft (1,288); Violation of the Access Devices Regulation Act (844 cases); Threat (504 incidents); Photo and Video Voyeurism Act (347); Data Interference (281); Unjust Vexation (258); and Robbery with Intimidation of Persons (112 cases).
Brig. Gen. Yang said they also noted a surge in cases of online libel and voyeurism in 2024 compared to the 2023 figures although the total number of cybercrimes significantly decreased.
The PNP-ACG director referred to rampant cases last year involving violation of Section i4(c)4 or libel under Republic Act 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2002 and the Anti-photo and Video Voyeurism Act, known as RA 9995, in relation to Section 6 of RA 10175.
The PNP-ACG head also said that the reported online libel cases increase by 55 or 3.92 percent from 1,403 in 2023 to 1,458 in 2024, while cases under RA9995 rose by 53 or 18.02 percent, from 294 to 347 during the same period.
The surge, the official said can be attributed to the growing use of social media and broader internet access, which has led to an increase in digital interactions where defamatory statements and false information often thrive.
Brig. Gen. Yang has underscored sustainable partnerships that will foster collaboration with both local and international law enforcement agencies, private sector experts, and academic institutions.
