Kaspersky Lab and DICT Ink MoU to Develop Public Sector Cybersecurity Capability

Global cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen their existing mutual commitment to address the information security challenges among local public sector agencies in support of the national cybersecurity framework of the Philippines.

The agreement, which coincided with the first Philippine International Cybersecurity Conference in Davao City last week, aims to further enhance capacity development and institution building on cybersecurity within the government sector as it seeks to ensure public safety and security in the 21st century.

“Tackling cybersecurity, being borderless in nature, is by no means a solo act. We are glad to take our current collaboration with the DICT to the next level and we’re looking forward to seeing the results of this agreement benefit the Filipinos. Our experience at Kaspersky Lab alone shows how a collective approach in battling cybercrime is very effective at demystifying the most complex of cyberthreats and keeping ahead of the cyber criminals. With our cybersecurity expertise, we hope to support the Philippines the best way we can as we do with other governments around the world,” says Stephan Neumeier, Managing Director at Kaspersky Lab Asia Pacific.

“The creation of the National Cybersecurity Plan (NCSP) 2020 proved that the Philippine government, through the DICT, has indeed placed cybersecurity among its top national priorities. With the country’s strong and steady economic growth combined with its highly active online citizens, the steps being taken by the government come at a time when Filipinos need heightened cybersecurity measures the most,” says Yeo Siang Tiong, General Manager for Southeast Asia at Kaspersky Lab.

Signing of Memorandum by Eliseo M. Rio Jr., Acting Secretary, DICT; Stephan Neumeier Managing Director, Kaspersky Lab APAC

In this year’s Q2 cyberthreat report of Kaspersky Lab, the Philippines placed as the ninth most attacked country worldwide in terms of online threats. About 10.6 million web infections online were recorded in this period in the Philippines, where 39% of attacks were against individual Internet users and 11% were against businesses.

“We truly appreciate the support Kaspersky Lab has given us. From the first days of the NCSP 2020 until now, they have been offering invaluable support to the agency with their new insights and in-depth intelligence on cyberthreats,” says Allan Cabanlong, Assistant Secretary at Department and Communications Technology.

“We hope that this holistic private-public cooperation will be a fine example of how information and expertise-sharing will be highly beneficial to the public ultimately. We are confident that this partnership will bring forth a positive impact not just on the Philippines’ national cyberdefenses but also on the lives of ordinary Filipino citizens.”

The MoU provides a joint framework for strategic collaboration between Kaspersky Lab and the DICT allowing both to:

● Establish tuition-based training programs for the DICT, other public sector agencies, research and competence centers, and universities to augment the IT security skills gap in the country
● Support the country’s cyber security awareness drive on online security for organizations and individuals in the Philippines
● Comply with transparency measures such as enabling DICT and other relevant public sector agencies to review the source code, updates and other components of Kaspersky Lab products through the Transparency Centre in Zurich, Switzerland
● Share relevant information, intelligence, and data through the DICT National Cyber Intelligence Centre
● Assist each other in cybercrime investigations in accordance with the guidance and supervision of the DICT National Cyber Intelligence Centre and relevant agencies, and