MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is being targeted by Chinese advanced persistent threats (APT), the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) said on Tuesday, November 26.
When asked by Sen. Risa Hontiveros if the Philippines is a victim country of Chinese-operated espionage and hacking groups, NICA Deputy Director General Francisco Acedillo replied in the affirmative.
“We can confirm that indeed, Chinese advanced persistent threat groups are operating or targeting the Philippines, whether government or private sector entities,” Acedillo said during the Senate’s last hearing on Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGOs).
Acedillo explained that APTs are cybersecurity nomenclature that refers to state-backed or affiliated hacking groups.
These hacking groups are described as “advanced and highly sophisticated.”
What sets these APTs apart from normal hackers are their resources, Acedillo said.
The NICA official said that with their advanced, sophisticated skills and bounty of resources, APTs are often believed to be state-backed.
“They provide a convenient cut-out for certain countries which we call revisionist countries that seek to upend the international global order. They seek to achieve certain asymmetric advantages without using state resources and providing a convenient, deniable link to such groups,” Acedillo said.
These APTs provide countries with “asymmetric advantages”.
Acedillo said people can receive a text blast of scams as well. Telecommunications companies typically process their text blasts through a data aggregator, However, scammers have found a way to bypass these aggregators.
An international mobile subscriber identity-catcher (IMSI) is then used. They pretend to be legitimate cell sites but they are actually hackers, Acedillo said.
“At yan po ang ginagawa po ng mga IMSI catchers, kinukolekta po yung informasyon sa ating mga cell phones at pag nakuha na po yan, yan naman po ang gagamitin ng impormasyon para ikaw naman po yung biktimahin,” Acedillo said.
(And that is what IMSI catchers do, it collects information from our cell phones and once they get that, they use that information to victimize you.)
POGO hubs have revealed a wide range of uses during the Senate probe, which includes illegal gambling, prostitution, scamming, and now, they may have offered a front for hacking as well.
The Philippines is no stranger to hacking attacks, with various government websites being attacked by what is widely believed to be Chinese hackers.