By Katrina Gracia Consebido
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. welcomed on Monday, March 13, the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) and the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA), recognizing the importance of the agreement in preventing cyber attacks on energy infrastructure.
“That is why we are continuing to shore up our defenses when it comes to cybersecurity,” Marcos said.
“Since NGCP is a critical part of our security, of our ability to continue to function as a society, then this is an important day because now we have made more robust the defenses against any possible attacks on our power systems,” he added.
The MOU aims to secure data and prevent external actors from using it against the Philippines.
NGCP operates, maintains, and develops the country’s state-owned power grid, while NICA gathers and analyzes overt, covert, and clandestine intelligence.
The MOU requires NICA to provide the NGCP with intelligence information to protect power transmission assets it operates and maintains nationwide, while the NGCP is tasked to provide technical assistance to NICA to strengthen its cyber security capability. – gb
