The Department of Finance (DOF) is now putting in place a comprehensive cybersecurity defense structure that will span all DOF units and attached agencies to shield their online portals and communications systems from the increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks.

A report to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said that starting now and up to next year, the cybersecurity system will be set up through an Advanced Security Operations Center (ASOC) and would involve deploying communication “brokers” to connect all inline security appliances of each attached agency to this ASOC.

The cybersecurity system will also include performing a comprehensive digital infrastructure upgrade (both hardware and software) of each of the DOF’s attached agency, such as the Bureaus of Internal Revenue (BIR) and of Customs (BOC) and the corresponding training needed for employees to familiarize themselves with the system.

By 2021, the DOF expects the system to be fully in place and operational. The DOF will also work closely with the Department of Communications and Technology (DICT) to ensure the sustainability of the system.

The DOF Technology Modernization team led by Dr. Vladimir Dennis Reyes has already identified the compromised machines, software and communication lines within the DOF. Reyes is the DOF Technology Modernization Architect.

Among the intervention and mitigation strategies that the team has proposed to put in place to shield the DOF from cyberattacks include performing a comprehensive cleanup of all end-point devices connected to the DOF network, establishing communications and threat analytics sharing protocols with DICT, and limiting the number of potential channels that hackers usually exploit to gain access to online networks.