The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) is set to discuss its partnership with the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Committee (CICC) following allegations that one of the convenors of cybercrime watchdog ScamWatch Philippines, Manila Bulletin technology editor Art Samaniego, was involved in hacking government websites.
According to Jeffrey Ian Dy, ICT undersecretary for infostructure management, cybersecurity, and upskilling, the DICT was alerted by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) about the operations of hackers responsible for breaching the systems of key government agencies.
“We’ll discuss that with the CICC,” Dy said during an interview at the Cybersecurity Forum held in Makati City. The CICC has been working closely with ScamWatch Philippines and Samaniego to raise public awareness about cybercrime and scams.
While the NBI is building its case and preparing for arrests, Dy advised Samaniego to prepare for his defense and trust the process. The DICT official noted that the suspected hacker arrested by the NBI had directly implicated Samaniego as the one who ordered the hacks on government and private organizations’ websites.
ICT Undersecretary and CICC executive director Alexander Ramos declined to comment on the allegations but confirmed that ethical hacking on government websites is conducted internally or by contracted third-party companies, not by individuals like Samaniego.
Overall, the investigation into the hacking operations and Samaniego’s involvement is ongoing, with authorities working to gather more evidence and information.
