November 5 cyber attacks unsuccessful so far — DICT
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said that the anticipated distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) cyber attacks have yet to affect major services on Wednesday, November 5.
The government previously announced that there may be a wave of DDoS attacks, warning the public to remain vigilant.
In a press conference, DICT Secretary Henry Aguda urged the public to remain calm and let the day pass.
“Wala pa po kaming na-detect na naapektuhan. May mga nagta-try na mag-increase ng traffic pero may mga anti-DDoS equipment po sila,” Aguda said in a press conference in Malacañan Palace.
(We did not detect anyone who was affected. Some have been trying to increase the traffic but we have anti-DDoS.)
Aguda explained that a DDos is not a data breach, but it is a malicious attempt to create a traffic jam by creating simultaneous requests in a system to overwhelm it.
The DICT secretary declined to comment on which websites were targeted, but the attempts so far had been focused on banks.
No banks have reported a disruption on their systems yet, Aguda said.
To combat the anticipated cyber attacks, Aguda said that Oplan Cyberdome was still in effect. The plan directs agencies to remain ready for any possible cyber attacks.
Bug bounty
Aguda said the DICT was also considering the use of a “bug bounty,” which is an incentive for hackers to ethically hack a website to see what its vulnerabilities are.
Aguda said that a “safe harbor” will be granted to these ethical hackers.
“Iyong safe harbor maglalagay po tayo ng ethical hacking standards po and sila ngayon hindi kakaba-kabahan basta ba iyong ginagawa nila is to serve the country and to serve in the purpose of making sure that the country is safe from cyber attacks. Hindi po sila huhulihin,” Aguda said.
(Safe harbor will set ethical hacking standards and they won;t need to worry as long as what they are doing is to serve the country and to serve in the purpose of making sure that the country is safe from cyber attacks. They will not be arrested.)
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