CALAMBA CITY, Laguna (PIA) - The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) has brought its HackForGov Capture-the-Flag competition in the Calabarzon region to bolster the country’s cybersecurity measures by building a pool of cyberwarriors from among the Filipino youth nationwide.
The DICT through the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-PH) under the Cybersecurity Bureau (CSB) provided students with hands-on experience in cybersecurity through the competition that challenged their skills in cryptography, web and network security among others.
George Tardio, division chief of DICT-CERT PH, said the program was also in response to the recent report of the global cyber security firm Kaspersky Security Network (KSN) showing that the Philippines ranked second after Mongolia among countries most affected by web threats worldwide in 2022.
"The Philippines is the second most attacked, but that doesn't mean that we are vulnerable or weak. They targeted us, so as long as it is reported, I could say that we have a strong response against them,” Tardio said
He noted that the HackForGov program was designed to encourage the Filipino youth to venture into the in-demand field of cybersecurity and to increase the pool of cyber-proficient individuals in our country.
"HackForGov is specifically for students and the academic community. Our main objective is to attract or redirect their careers towards cybersecurity because the main problem and issue in the Philippines is the lack of cybersecurity professionals," explained Tardio.
In the Calabarzon leg of the competition on September 12, team SB53 from the National University (NU) – Laguna was hailed as the HackForGov winners and will advance to the national level.
The runners-up were Trojans from Cavite State University and Domie's Watchdog from Siena College of Taytay.
Tardio urged the youth to be more participative in government initiatives aimed at bolstering the country's capabilities in countering online threats.
"Our message to the youth is to be interested in cybersecurity and to participate in hackathons or HackForGov events similar to the Capture-The-Flag. Attend a lot of awareness campaigns. The DICT regional offices offer free training, whether online or physical, and we have regional awareness programs with the academic community and local government units (LGUs)," he added.
A series of qualifying rounds will be conducted across the country, and the winning team from each region will represent their area in the HackForGov finals at the national level next month.
The overall champion of the National HackForGov will have the prestigious opportunity to join and represent the Philippines in the ASEAN-Japan Cyber SEA Games 2023, which will take place in Bangkok, Thailand. (CO)