By Dean Aubrey Caratiquet
Having received reports about a possible Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack in the domestic cyberspace on Wednesday, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) has already put measures in place to alleviate the possible impact of this “traffic flood” on digital services and other critical information infrastructure.
In a statement on Tuesday, DICT Secretary Henry Aguda outlined the agency’s master plan to combat this malicious attempt to compromise the online safety of Filipinos.
The statement read, citing President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s directive on this matter, “DICT has activated Oplan Cyberdome to ensure that all digital services of the govt, as well as privately-operated critical information infrastructure such as banks, telecommunications, hospitals, etc. are also protected and ready to respond to any DDoS attacks.”
“The public is assured that the government and private sectors are working hand-in-hand to ensure all digital services are available and secure.”
Meanwhile, the Palace declined to disclose details regarding the bad actors or groups that may be involved in this nefarious activity.
A DDoS attack is an invasive attack that disrupts the normal traffic of a targeted server, which is accomplished when a bad actor makes use of compromised computer systems and other Internet of Things (IoT) devices to overwhelm a server or its surrounding infrastructure with a flood of internet traffic.
Under the Oplan Cyberdome, DICT will be working in close collaboration with the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Council (CICC), National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), law enforcement agencies, and other partner agencies to ensure prompt response and provide adequate protection for online platforms.
The public is moreover, encouraged to report any incidents via the 1326 hotline or on [email protected]. (with report from Clay Pardilla | PTV News)
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