Manila: The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) confirmed on Tuesday that the reported ransomware attack on the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) was a false positive. This announcement comes as the DICT continues to combat cyber threats targeting various government agencies.
According to Philippines News Agency, the DICT Cybersecurity Bureau, through the National Computer Emergency Response Team (NCERT), conducted a joint verification with PPA personnel and found no evidence of ransomware activity or system compromise within the agency's infrastructure. This confirmation was part of DICT's broader response to cyber incidents affecting the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
In response to unauthorized access on the DMW website, the DICT activated emergency protocols and dispatched on-site technical response teams to enhance access control and implement system isolation measures. Similarly, after detecting unauthorized modifications on the DOLE website, the DICT alerted the agency's IT administrators and initiated coordinated response protocols to address the issue.
Initial technical assessments revealed that neither incident resulted in the compromise of sensitive databases or Personally Identifiable Information (PII). As a precaution, the affected web services at DMW and DOLE were taken offline while forensic investigations and root-cause analyses continue. The DICT emphasized that investigation and mitigation efforts are ongoing, with technical teams from partner agencies working diligently to restore full web service availability safely.
Meanwhile, DICT Secretary Henry Aguda announced that a legislative bill seeking to ban social media access for minors might pass the Senate within the next two months, with Meta expressing readiness to comply once the bill is enacted into law. Speaking at the launch of the Philippine AI+ Infrastructure Masterplan in Quezon City, Aguda assured that government agencies remain vigilant and continue to thwart cyberattacks, including ongoing efforts to address vulnerabilities in the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) system.
