AFP eyes cyber command vs internet hackers

By Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza, Reporter

THE PHILIPPINE military is creating a cyber command to improve defenses against almost daily cyberattacks and will relax recruitment rules to ensure it can attract information technology experts, the Armed Forces chief said on Thursday.

The cyber security force will have a presence in the entire archipelago, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Romeo S. Brawner, Jr. told a news briefing.

“It will have the whole archipelago as its territory. It will have command and control over all the cyber units that we have in the AFP,” he said. He added that the military must integrate its cyber units because both local and foreign hackers are targeting the “whole network.”

“Some of the attacks are foreign, some are local,” he said. “Almost every day, we experience attempts (directed at) the entire network of the Armed Forces.”

“The plan to invest in cyber security is long overdue due to the cyber dimension of multi-domain warfare,” Joshua Bernard B. Espeña, a resident fellow at International Development & Security Cooperation, said in a Facebook Messenger chat. “It is very much reflected in today’s conflicts around the world.”

He noted that for years, the AFP only had a cyber group composed of fewer than 100 workers for the entire country.

“The AFP must push for an AFP Cyber command that will be pooled from the Filipino civilian IT/ICT/computer engineering population and donned with special-rank officers and enlisted personnel with competitive salaries and benefits,” he added.

Mr. Brawner said they would relax the recruitment process for the cyberforce, adding that workers need not have military skills.

“When we say we are going to hire cyber warriors, it’s not on top of the usual recruitment,” he said. “Instead of recruiting soldiers for infantry battalions, this time we will recruit cyber warriors.”

Mr. Brawner said they plan to acquire more cyber security equipment under the last phase of the military modernization program slated for 2023 to 2028.

None of the cyberattacks have succeeded so far, Mr. Brawner said.

Tensions between the Philippines and China have worsened after the Chinese Coast Guard fired water cannons to block Manila’s attempt to deliver food and other supplies to a grounded ship at Second Thomas Shoal on Aug. 5.

Cyber defense was part of the Philippines’ joint drills with the US this year, Mr. Brawner said.

The military chief said they would no longer let telecommunication companies build cell towers in their camps.

The military has allowed the installation of cell sites inside its sites to protect them from communist attacks. In 2020, lawmakers opposed the decision to allow Dito Telecommunity, where China Telecommunications Corp. has a stake, to set up cell sites in military camps, saying it posed serious threats to national security.

Senate President Juan Miguel F. Zubiri in August urged the Defense department to remove cell towers built by Chinese companies inside Philippine military bases.

While creating a cyber command has implications for the overall Defense budget, “the trade-off will be worth more than the cost in terms of boosting intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities,” Mr. Espeña said.

“This will also enable the AFP to protect the software of platforms and combat management systems of the military’s newest assets from the modernization wish list,” he said. “In terms of offense, a robust cyber capability will enable the AFP to cook the enemy’s software and disable their command-and-control and firing systems.”

Mr. Espeña said the cyber command must have an independent computer system that is distinct from the usual computers used in normal day-to-day business. “This is the logistics side that the AFP and its political masters must consider.”

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Don Mclain Gill, who teaches foreign relations at De La Salle University, said recent hacking of several government websites should prompt the government to “establish a consolidated national cyber-security strategy that will integrate existing national security structures.”

“The threats brought by cyberattacks are growing given their muddled characteristics, making it difficult for governments to address them effectively,” he said in a Facebook Messenger chat. “Therefore, a strategy that involves consolidating internal and external resources will be crucial for Manila.”

Mr. Brawner said the government should declare the domestic shipping industry as a strategic sector amid rising external threats.

“It’s important especially because we are a maritime nation,” he said. “For the longest time, we’ve been ordering ships from other countries. It’s high time that we develop our shipping industry, particularly for the defense sector.”

The shipping sector, along with other industries deemed as public services, has been opened to full foreign ownership.

Meanwhile, Mr. Brawner said expect to finalize talks for a visiting forces agreement with Japan this year.

Concerns over China have pushed the Philippines to boost its security ties with the US and Japan.

In February, President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. gave the US access to four military bases on top of the existing five sites under a 2014 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA).

Mr. Brawner said they are building disaster-proof facilities at EDCA sites instead of adding more bases. More than 60 new projects in existing EDCA sites include warehouses, drainage systems and roads.

Also on Thursday, Mr. Brawner said the military does not plan to have any engagements with Taiwan, a democratically governed island that China claims as its own.

He said the military is ready for any conflicts involving Taiwan.

“The course of action undertaken by the Marcos administration appears to reflect a traditional hedging strategy aimed at containing China’s assertiveness through a calibrated adjustment of existing security agreements with the US,” he added.