The National Privacy Commission (NPC) headed by Commissioner Raymund E. Liboro believes that working with the country’s White Hat Hackers will help the country a lot in cybersecurity, particularly with the forthcoming Philippine System (PhilSys) national identification (ID).
Image courtesy of Pixabay.
He asked the assistance the “ethical hackers” to help in providing security for the country’s cyberspace leading to a robust public ICT systems starting with the forthcoming implementation of the national ID.
The NPC chief said it was about time they come to help the country’s online defenses.
“We do a lot more to help the data that will come out PhilSys processing. You can your part in it as well as ‘hackers ng bayan’ and indeed I strongly urge you to help government make this right. They need for your voice is now acute. “Your country needs you more than ever,” Liboro said at the recent two-day RootCon 12 in Tagaytay City.
His reference to white hat hackers or ethical hackers call to mind the other kinds of hackers lurking on cyberspace.
Privacy Commissioner Raymund E. Liboro at Rootcon in Tagaytay City. (NPC photo)
Erez Lugassi, security architect and assistant vice president for marketing and business development of Maroev Cyber Systems, identified the hackers’ classifications:
White Hat Hackers are known to protect systems and people.
There also Black Hat Hackers are what everyone reads every day, they are the criminals and other wrongdoers who hack for money.
Grey Hat Hackers are conflicted hackers who can’t quite make sure which side of the law to be siding with.
Then there are Script Kiddies who are novice who do not yet possess enough skills (they are either white, black or grey hat hackers.
Still others are the hacktivists, or those who are social activists fighting for a cause.
More hacker classification include Red Hat Hackers or the vigilantes of the hackers’ world; Green Hat Hackers; and Blue Hat Hackers (who hack for vengeance).
Liboro pointed out the government’s biggest challenge at present, saying this is to deliver basic services with efficiency rivaling the private sector. Only through digital transformation can make it done.
“The challenge right now, ‘mga kababayan ko’ (my countrymen), is that our people expect the government to give the same level of efficiency that they get from the private sector. Meaning, it’s no longer enough for government now to simply reform. It must pursue rapid, robust and sometimes bold transformation. And we must transform digitally,” said Liboro.
Making this happen in the fastest and safest route to digital transformation, he said, could be done “through an active collaboration between the government and patriotic hackers.”
He described the white hat hackers as the foremost experts of the country concerning the offensive and defensive aspects of data security as he praised them for being “hackers ng bayan” (hackers of the nation) or “hack bayani (hack heroes).
Liboro said they are at the center of every data protection effort.
“It is you who will design and implement the structures that keep our data safe. No longer will you be the unsung heroes keeping our boat afloat. You will be at the vanguard, keeping threats and hazards at bay, so everyone’s data will remain safely private,” the privacy commissioner said.
RootCon held at Taal Vista Hotel, attracted some 300 Filipino “hackers of all colors, covering info-security professionals of the corporate world to members of the so-called “digital underground.”
“RootCon” (formerly DEFCON) is a hackers’ conference and is the largest and premier Information Security Conference and Hacker gathering in the country which started on December 27, 2008.
Founded by Dax Labrador a.k.a. semprix, RootCon is from “root and conference.” (EKU)