‘Lip service’: Philippines’ cyber defences lag amid Chinese attack claims

In a world where wars are no longer fought on battlefields alone, the Philippines is confronting an invisible but no less dangerous threat.

Amid a marked growth in cyberattacks that officials blame on Beijing, observers warn the Southeast Asian nation is running out of time to shore up its digital defences.

The most recent wave of cyber threats targeted the Philippines’ military and government agencies. In February, the Philippine military confirmed that it had detected attempts to breach its networks, after a cybersecurity advocacy group, Deep Web Konek, claimed “highly sensitive personal and operational data of military personnel” had been exposed. The military insisted that no sensitive data was compromised.

Earlier, the country’s information and communications department revealed in January that it had foiled several hacking attempts that were traced to IP addresses in China. These attacks aimed to infiltrate local government websites and email systems, including those of the Office of the President, the department said.

A spokesman from the Chinese embassy in Manila dismissed the allegations as “highly irresponsible”, but the mounting evidence has left little doubt among cybersecurity experts.