When the deepfake of the president tried to start a war

We first saw deepfakes as humorous memes, then as celebrity likenesses selling tacky products. But the deepfake of the president last month calling on the Armed Forces to take action against a foreign country demonstrated AI-driven deepfakes’ potential for real danger.

Deepfakes have been defined as video or audio manipulated with the help of AI to create hoaxes. But they’re now also considered an advanced form of disinformation with often malicious intent.

Our podcast guest Jeffrey Dy is the government’s undersecretary for Information and Communications Technology. He describes the response of the government to the deepfake president’s order to the military (the deepfake was taken down by YouTube after a few hours and monitored automatically for any reappearance).

He says that the country will need 300,000 cybersecurity professionals to handle the wave of deepfakes and other cyber threats on the horizon.

HOWIE: Magandang araw, podmates! Howie Severino muli na nagpapaalala na nakakatalino ang mahabang attention span.

Ang guest natin ngayon ay may napakahirap na trabaho, si Usec. Jeffrey Dy, the undersecretary of the Department of Information and Communications Technology na may malawak na mandate.

But it includes cybersecurity and protecting our government tech infrastructure from hacking, which has already happened at an alarming pace. On top of that, more recently, we had to grapple with deepfakes, a new danger, the very convincing mimicking of voice and face likenesses of public personalities, including the President of the Philippines.

And just to disclose, I myself have also been a victim of deepfakes along with other GMA News practitioners. Magandang araw sa inyo, Usec. Jeffrey Dy.

USEC. DY: Magandang araw sa iyo, Howie, at sa lahat na nakikinig at nanonood ng iyong podcast. You're right, maraming GMA personalities and talents.

HOWIE: Yeah, well, it's a global phenomenon now, Usec. But, you know, we're small fry, kaming mga news personalities compared to the president, of course.

So let's start off with the deepfake of the President. This is just a couple of maybe two or three weeks ago. His fake voice was calling on the Armed Forces to take action against a foreign country. Na-deactivate na 'yung video na ito. Sana hindi na kumakalat, hindi na mapapanood.

But, of course, we know it will not be the last attempt. Walk us back to that incident, Usec. How did you find out about it? And what was your reaction and the reaction of your department, which is supposed to prevent that and address those kinds of issues?

USEC. DY: So we have tools that actually scour the internet about whatever is happening. If somebody is shouting out to assassinate, for example, a very important personality like our president, we actually have a monitoring system for that.

So in this particular instance, nasa iisang grupo kami with the Presidential Communications Office, kami, NBI and the intelligence apparatus. And then, on that weekend, we monitored a vlogger who was saying na may nakita siyang video. Sorry, may narinig na ito na nga, pinaghahanda na ng ating pangulo raw ang Armed Forces upang mag-retaliate doon sa neighbor natin sa West Philippine Sea.

Now, we know for a fact as senior government officials that any type of policy statement to that effect should have at least went through vetting process. So nagtanungan kami and we realized that, no, it's fake. Hindi naman siya 100% copy ng boses ng presidente but for those who only hear the president from the news, medyo pasado na. It really sounded like him.

HOWIE: So Usec., nabalitaan niyo itong deepfake ng pangulo from a vlogger who believed it to be true. Naniwala siya.

USEC. DY: Well, at least that's the story, 'no? Kasi ang kasunod nu'n is we pre-empted its spreading out kasi lumalabas na, e. So we asked YouTube and Facebook to stop its spread.

YouTube naman, in 24 hours, they killed the channel and every time that video resurfaces, they use AI also. So it's AI fighting AI. They use AI also to detect if that video resurfaces. They don't delete it, but they stop it. Nagiging private agad 'yung setting para hindi makita ng publiko.

It was not prevalent sa Facebook but we also called Meta and Meta said that they are also monitoring just in case the link appeared there. In broad strokes, we were successful because marami in the first few days, hinahanap 'yung video after pumutok sa news, hindi siya mahanap nga dahil it was a cat and mouse thing, ano.

Lalabas for a few minutes or even an hour, tapos made-detect ng AI ng YouTube, papatayin siya, ano. Ipa-private, ire-restrict agad 'yung viewing. So I think we were successful in making sure that it did not spread out up to the point, of course, that we already informed the public that there was the existence of this video. So that, kung mapanood mo man, you are already armed na hindi talaga sinabi 'yun ng ating mahal na pangulo.

HOWIE: Okay. Well, you know, we may have just been lucky, ano. We dodged a bullet kumbaga, ano. But who knows how others might have reacted kung tumagal 'yun or, I mean, YouTube did not deactivate the video instantly, 'di ba? Siguro may sarili silang siguro imbestigasyon, and of course, the news, the video, had to reach you before you could react and you had to make this decision. So may mga ilang, at least, minuto, ano.

USEC. DY: Correct. Siguro kalahating araw, at the most.

HOWIE: That's a pretty long time for, you know, for something like that. Kumbaga, kind of a declaration of war or even an order to attack, et cetera. How worried were you when you saw it or naisip mo kaagad na makokontrol natin kaagad ito?

USEC. DY: Well, of course, the first thing that came to my mind is first, we have to verify the news. Nangyari ba talaga ito o hindi? Even though I'm an undersecretary, there are a lot of things that happen in the halls of Malacañang that I may not be privy of. After all, it might have happened, right?

Government is just one chat or phone call away. We work together very seamlessly kahit gabi. So I immediately called an assistant secretary of the Presidential Communications Office, which they readily denied.

USEC. DY: Then after that, we called the National Security Council and they said, 'No, we don't think that's true.' So after we confirmed, we put things in motion. PCO immediately denied that using a, you know, the official socmed postings. They already said, 'No, huwag kayo maniwala rito.' And then, we went public about it to inform the public.

But you're right, Howie. Kasi important note ano. We take all of these things seriously. It just so happens that this particular event had a far larger impact because it was the president. It was the voice of the president. And of course, the statement of the president is official. Basta sinabi niya 'yan, that is already a statement of policy. So importante na ma-prevent natin ito from happening.

Let's make something clear. Any type of AI misinformation or disinformation, including to our friends in media, including even to our loved ones or relatives are important. 'Yun nga lang, because they are
massive, I think, 'yan ang magiging susunod na point mo, e. Unfortunately, our resources can only focus on a few, which in this particular case, the Office of the President.

HOWIE: Of course, Usec., the flip side of this is kung sa susunod na okasyon na may sasabihin ang pangulo na importante, baka wala nang maniwala, 'no? Kasi it could be something very urgent that's real but because nakaranas na tayo ng deepfake, baka 'yun na nga, e, parang boy who cried wolf. 'Yan ang isang posibleng effect nitong mga deepfake na 'to.

USEC. DY: That is correct, Howie. So dito actually papasok 'yung importansya ng institusyon. The institutions that held transparency and the integrity of data and information at a very high standard. And I am talking about proper journalism, like what you're doing, also even the government journalists, the government media broadcasting networks.

Ang message sa ating mga Pilipino is always look at the proper sources. Halimbawa, if you're talking about Howie Severino, then look at GMA 7, right? Or it is proper URL, 'yung proper site ng kaniyang podcasts. If you see it in Facebook na medyo, sino ba itong, 'di ba? I mean, nobody should speak in behalf of Howie, except Howie himself. So 'yun lang 'yung message ko.

So if it is the Office of the President, then either it is RTVM, 'di ba or PTV4. 'Yun usually ang source niyan, e. And of course, by extension, the Malacañang beats, which is ably represented by all major media networks na kilala mo. Alam naman natin 'yung mga source na ito. And we should focus there.

Ang problema kasi natin is that we focus too much sa social media. We're victims of the scrolling. Alam niyo 'yun, 'yung, nakita mo lang 'yung post ng kaibigan mo, tapos, before you knew it, two hours ka na pala nag-i-scroll down. Huwag tayong tumingin ng truth sa internet basta-basta. So that's what my message would be.

HOWIE: Okay, itong gumawa ng deepfake ng pangulo and the same person or persons or maybe organization is probably creating deepfakes of other people, that is a crime, right? Krimen 'yan?

USEC. DY: That's correct.

HOWIE: Yeah, yeah. So ano po 'yung liability ng taong ito? And is it possible to find out who is doing these things?

USEC. DY: It's possible to find this out but it would be very difficult. So we're leaving that up to the law enforcement agencies such as the NBI, the PNP to be able to root them out. We can determine who created the video. Magkaiba pa 'yung true attribution, 'di ba? Sorry, ang attribution is sino 'yung nag-post. Ang true attribution is sino ba talaga ang original source.

'Yun 'yung mas mahirap sa internet kasi, kopya, kopya, kopya, 'di ba? So hindi mo na minsan makita 'yung original source. But I will let the very able NBI and PNP handle that.

Now, with regard to your first question, the prosecutorial service of the Department of Justice has various tools which they can use para diyan. So there could be identity theft under the Cybercrime Law of 2012. There could also be some other provisions in the Revised Penal Code which they can use.

Usually kasi ang ginagawa ng DOJ diyan, kung ano 'yung worst na pupuwede nilang i-apply. If it is found out that it is part of a larger conspiracy, then it could be also inciting to sedition or some other treasonous acts, if just in case. Because we're talking about, I'm not saying definitely, but that will depend on the evidence. And remember, we're talking about the Office of the President.

HOWIE: Yes. Well, before we leave this particular incident, so ano 'yung latest diyan? Mayroon na bang suspect? I mean, how far are we in finding this person, filing a case, and, you know, just as a warning to others who might want to do the same thing?

USEC. DY: I'm sorry we cannot disclose the full details of the investigation but I believe the NBI and the PNP already have persons of interest which they are investigating. So they already have leads. And hopefully, these are the real perpetrators.

Medyo mahirap kasing i-determine who among the many posters is the source. Now, ang maganda naman dito is that, of course, you cannot create a YouTube account without giving out some form of information. Some information might be fabricated, but still, you made some, you made the effort of creating impersonated identities. So at least may mga lead na ang ating law enforcement.

HOWIE: Okay. There are a lot of scenarios about the elections. I'm sure you've been giving this some
thought, Usec. Ano ba 'yung scenarios nakikita natin for disinformation, deepfakes that will try to influence the elections?

USEC. DY: I'll just give you a hypothetical scary thought. A candidate saying he or she is withdrawing from the race. And let's do this on a very ungodly hour. Let's say midnight before the polls open. So you have very little time to actually verify the information. And you know how chismis runs, 'no? It's even faster than the news. Actually, that's how disinformation works. Disinformation doesn't work in the long term. It doesn't. Kasi in the long term, may mga lalabas na mga analyst, may mga lalabas na ng mga, you know, who has the mental fortitude to actually say, 'Ah, mali 'yan.' Pero it works kapag mabilisan. When we're talking about hours before the actual polls, that's how it works.

Another thing is magsabi ang isang kandidato laban sa kabilang kandidato na talagang magba-backfire sa kaniya. Very lewd, very wrong statements that even questions the morality of that, the ethical and moral principles of that candidate. Pero actually, hindi niya ginawa 'yun. 'Di ba? Pinapalabas niya lang na tinitira niya 'yung kabila. Pero hindi siya gumawa.

'Yung sinasabi mo kanina, Howie. Pupuwede kasing hindi totoo pero maniwala ka na, e. At hindi lang 'yun. Kahit i-deny niya, 'di ba, the other would say, "E, siyempre dine-deny mo kasi nag-backfire, e." 'Di ba? Nagke-create ka ngayon ng scenario na lose-lose situation for that particular candidate.

So we're thinking in advance about this. That's why in social media, we're talking to Facebook, we're talking to YouTube. And according to them, by May, they will be launching an AI labeling scheme. Kumbaga, kapag AI generated 'yung video or 'yung audio, they said, they will also use AI to fight AI. So may lalabas doon na "probable AI generated". Or "probably edited."

HOWIE: So are we expecting it anytime soon? Or did they give a date?

USEC. DY: I think, sabi nila by mga third week to fourth week of May. Nauna 'yung Facebook, hahabol 'yung YouTube.

HOWIE: Okay. Well, so far we've been discussing deepfake videos, 'no? 'Yung likeness ng tao, 'yung mukha ng pangulo or other personalities with their voice saying something they didn't say but may mga nababasa ako na 'yung next generation, 'yung audio lang, audio deepfakes na magkakaroon ng robocalls.

USEC. DY: Robocalls.

HOWIE: May tatawag sa ating mga mobile sounding like somebody we know, sounding like somebody in the news, et cetera. So ibang klaseng creature ito, Usec.

USEC. DY: That's correct. Now, we're already monitoring this abroad. Kasi if it happens abroad, it's not far off na mangyari sa Pilipinas. So now we're talking about cybercrime, hindi na cybersecurity, ano? Cybercrime. Ang crime kasi is actually an enterprise. Usually may gumagawa ng tool, binebenta niya. At kapag naging madali na para sa lahat na gawin iyon, then it becomes a common crime.

Sa ngayon, hindi pa siya common. But it already happened in the United States, it already happened in Europe, and just recently it happened in Hong Kong, where somebody in a voice call, in a confidence call of C-level executives, they thought they were talking to their CEO. And the CEO ordered a transfer of money, in the millions of dollars. They did it.

'Yun pala, in that particular conference call, wala 'yung CEO. It was a robocall. So yes, this already happened in other areas. And so we are expecting that this will also happen sa Pilipinas. 'Yung mga tool na iyan, 'pag nahawakan ng mga kriminal, puwede nang gamitin sa Pilipinas.

HOWIE: But so far, Usec., wala pa kayo nababalitaan sa Pilipinas?

USEC. DY: Wala pa. Pero ito 'yung very concerning. Pansinin niyo, kahit sa Facebook, may nakikita na kayong mga joke na AI generated, where our past presidents are discussing with each other. They were even singing. Now, notice how easy it was to do. They can do like once every two days. Every other day, they do that. Plus, puwede na mag-Pilipino, Taglish. Conversational Taglish na 'yung AI.

So ito 'yung nakakatakot, e. Kasi that means, 'yung culture mo, kaya na niyang i-assimilate. And therefore, it becomes conversational. Therefore, mas mahirap na siyang ma-detect.

HOWIE: Okay. May mga kongresista and other political personalities, they're advocating now for legislation against deepfakes. Do we need a law? Sabi niyo nga, krimen na ito, 'yung mimicking the president and having him say false things. Krimen na 'yan, obviously. Kailangan pa ba natin ng legislation dito?

USEC. DY: Yes, we do. Let's put this recent deepfake event into perspective. 'Yung nangyari dito, 'di ba hinahanapan natin ng kaso. Maghahanap tayo sa Revised Penal Code, ano ba ito, identity theft, et cetera. Because technically speaking, walang nagsasabi na krimen 'yung kumopya ka na mismo. Wala, e.

So if we can criminalize that particular act by itself, hindi mo na kailangan ng intent. Hindi mo kailangan ng intent ng conspiracy, for example, to call or conspiracy to perform seditious acts, for example. The very act of creating an AI copy of somebody's voice, dapat 'yun, bawal na, e. Kasi, assuming na hindi nga 'yun for evil intent. Pero 'pag may nakakuha naman, puwede niyang i-splice, puwede na siyang
gumawa ng replicas or some other product out of that copied voice and copied video.

USEC. DY: Of course, I'm just saying that this debate should be at the forefront of the discussions with legislators vis-a-vis our right on freedom of expression. Ako personal ko na ito, hindi naman ako for
censorship pero dapat informed ang publiko. Dapat alam niya, "A, AI 'to ah." So you understand what I'm trying to say. So 'yun lang 'yung kailangan i-balanse. And to be honest, I don't envy the discourse that is going to happen in Congress. In fact, Howie, marami ng bills na nandoon na. Na-predict na ito ng ating mga kongresista as far as two years ago. Mayroong bill to expand the powers of MTRCB, to censor even 'yung mga streaming media and social media against disinformation and misinformation.

'Yun nga lang, ngayon nga lang, naging one-up 'yung ante. Kasi ngayon, hindi na siya disinformation lang, e. Kinopya talaga, e. Talagang kinuha 'yung boses at saka 'yung itsura para magmukhang ikaw. Pero hindi naman talaga ikaw 'yun.

HOWIE: Well that's kind of reassuring na may ganitong conversations na in our political sphere before it gets out of hand. Sabi niyo nga, may serious damage na nagaganap. Even in the corporate world, in other countries, other places. Pero sa atin, mukhang wala pang mga ganoong klaseng incidents. So there's a way of creating more guardrails before that happens.

In the meantime, alam ko, Usec, you've also been preoccupied with the hacking of some government websites, 'no? So that's already a current problem, 'no? And in previous interviews, you've said that some of these hacking attacks, you know for certain that they came from China. Not necessarily the Chinese government, but from Chinese hackers, networks in China.

Can you share any updates about that? Maybe some more investigations or information about these hacking attacks on government tech infrastructure?

USEC. DY: Ah, yes, Howie. So last February, there was, we monitored a spyware, which is, well, spying on the access credentials of our government mail exchange systems. This actually happened the same time that Google and Microsoft was being attacked in the United States. Nagkataon kasi that our government mail exchange system is housed in Google.

So I think they used the same attack to encroach into our government mail systems. We immediately responded to it. It was like, again, a cat and mouse game. Palagi naman ganyan pagdating sa cyber security. But we managed to get it under control.

And you're right. May tinatawag kasi kami sa hacking world na TTP. 'Yung tactics, techniques, and procedures. The tactics, techniques and procedures employed seems to belong to advanced persistent threats associated with Chinese APTs.

Again, you're right. We're not saying it's the Chinese government. But they are well-known Chinese APTs, which even China, in their database says. This looks like criminals within the... the frames that.

HOWIE: 'Yun nga, Usec., no? You clarified that, you know, you're not saying that this is the Chinese government doing these cyber attacks. However, can we expect at least the Chinese government to help us, and help the Philippine government track down whoever, whatever is orchestrating, engineering these attacks from China?

You know, as in the spirit of maybe friendship or diplomacy, tinutulungan ba tayo? Are they offering to cooperate, to help the Philippine government in tracking down these people who are doing it?

USEC. DY: I think a help was extended through our secretary of DICT. The embassy did call the secretary and they were offering help. In terms of concrete help or how this can be done, we need to churn that out. May mga computer emergency response teams na inter-country and we usually communicate. For example, we communicate with Japan. We even communicate with the computer emergency response team of Taiwan and, you know, Australia, et cetera.

We don't have that particular set up with the Chinese. So with the Chinese, what we usually do is we escalate it to the Asia-Pacific Computer Emergency Response Team Consortium. And then we get response from them. So I think you're right. The proper way of doing this is to have this sort of mechanism where we can call each other and de-escalate. Kasi, you know, this is a very sophisticated attack and we wouldn't have known it without the assistance also from the private sector.

I'm very thankful also to the private sector and also to our other nationalists. Alam niyo may community of hackers. I know there is an underground community. But there is also a group of professionals who are very nationalistic who helped us out also.

HOWIE: Parang white hat hackers.

USEC. DY: Yeah, professional white hackers who helps us.

HOWIE: It's good to have allies like that, 'no? Well, I want to ask you about TikTok, Usec., 'no? Because in the United States, 'yung public conversation there at least in some congressional governments is iba-ban ba 'yung TikTok or ire-regulate ba, ire-restrict ang access, halimbawa, ng government mobile phones to TikTok? Or even ban it altogether as has happened in some other countries? Because supposedly, control over TikTok can be traced to Chinese companies na hanggang ngayon medyo malabo pa kung ano talaga 'yung involvement ng China sa TikTok.

But kayo ba? I mean, do you think TikTok is a security risk? And should there be some kind of restriction over its use? Should the Philippine government be considering even banning TikTok? You know, we're one of the biggest TikTok users in the world.

USEC. DY: Yeah. First things first. There is no discussion in banning TikTok for the entire Philippines. None. 'Yun lang gusto ko i-clarify. However, there is discussion regarding the use of TikTok for as official social media platform for government agencies. Okay? So you can allay that fear. There is no discussion yet whether we will ban TikTok for the public.

Ang diskusyon ngayon sa gobyerno is, is it enough or is it right to use TikTok as a government communications platform? Kasi kung papansinin ninyo, karamihan sa nasa loob ng TikTok is informal. And the problem with being informal is that sometimes when you're too relaxed and comfortable discussing, and I know you know this, Howie, because that's what journalists try to do, 'no? You make us comfortable so para may scoop, 'di ba? Para may masabi kami na hindi namin dapat sabihin.

'Yan 'yung nangyayari kapag informal. And so that discussion is revolving around that. And of course, we're also talking about 'yung ownership structures nga.

But our position in DICT is that this particular problem is not only TikTok, but extends to other applications as well. For example, we also would like to call out Telegram.

Because why is it that most of the hacking incidents, the leaks are being released by Telegram? I'm just stating out the fact. It's not Viber, it's not Messenger. Right? It's not Signal. It's always Telegram.

Look at almost all the hacks. Not only here, but also worldwide. So this particular also we're calling out Facebook. I've already called Claire, the Meta country director here, and I told her that, "You know that Messenger is also being used for..." Facebook Marketplace is being used for prostitution. And so we would like to control that as well.

So we are calling out any type of application that is being used for illegal, either for illicit activities or for certain activities which we think is not appropriate.

So yes, there is discussion on TikTok. I don't want to preempt the discussion. I'm sorry, Howie. But we have to be statesmen also. And we have to respect also the opinion, especially of the other government officials who wanted TikTok banned, at least as a government platform. So we're having that discussion.

But for the public, of course, you can still use it. 'May alam ka nang bago, that also goes for Telegram kasi nga it's being used by hackers.

We also know that the API of Telegram is exposed. So maybe Telegram should also not be used by government officials. That discussion is also on the table.

HOWIE: Well, okay. Thank you for bringing up messaging platforms. Kasi a big part of the population are also using messaging platforms to communicate. And sabi niyo nga, not all of these are, you know, they're not all equally secure or they may be all equally insecure.

But I'm just wondering, are there particular messaging platforms that you would recommend? As kung may... Some people are considering the various options now. You know, there's Messenger, there's Telegram, there's WhatsApp, there's Viber. I mean, many of us are on multiple messaging platforms.

But if there was something that we would want to keep secure or there's a messaging platform that, you know, we can trust, would you be at liberty to say, Usec.?

USEC. DY: Mahirap na baka i-call out ako? Pero ang sasabihin ko na lang is that, like I said, na 'yung hackers are using Telegram more often. That's one, 'no? We know also for a fact that there was a leak of keys that happened in WhatsApp. But that was like last year or several or two years ago. WhatsApp said that they already fixed it.

The same goes for Facebook Messenger. In terms of technical capabilities, the iMessage of iPhone has very strong encryption. At pinagmamalaki nila that they haven't surrendered their keys to any government agency or any government law enforcement. So that's very reassuring.

But however, iMessage is only secure if it is iPhone to iPhone communication. Kasi kapag iPhone to Android, the security cannot be guaranteed. So those are some of my technical assessments for the public out there.

HOWIE: I want to pivot a little bit. Kasi nga in a previous interview, you've talked about the drastic shortage of cybersecurity professionals in the Philippines. Considering the kind of threats that we're facing today and the kind of scenarios that you outlined for the future. It's not just government who will need cybersecurity professionals. Of course, the private sector, academe, media, everyone will be needing it.

Is there a way to encourage more talented, patriotic Filipinos to go into cybersecurity to protect the country?

USEC. DY: So that's the type of behavior we're nudging the industry towards. For example, just last week, Friday, we had a launching of Hack4Gov, which is actually a government-sponsored hackathon. So nagbago na tayo. Mayroon na tayong hackathon. We're inviting college students to form teams of four. We provide a box where they can safely experiment with. And those with the highest points, which means the number of flags they captured, wins. Hindi lang ito humihinto rito. We're doing this the entire year. We're going to do region by region. We're going to be announcing winners per region.

And then, on October, it will culminate in a national hackathon where each winner of the region will participate. And the winner will send to Thailand for the ASEAN hackathon and elsewhere. Kasi we're also being invited sa mga hackathon.

But we're not stopping there, Howie. Gusto ko lang masabi na this is an achievement of this administration as well. When we first came in, there were only about three bachelor's degrees in cybersecurity. There's a lot of trainings in cybersecurity but only three colleges or universities offer bachelor's degree in cybersecurity. 'Yung iba, computer science pero walang cyber.

But now, there are more than ten. Which means that there is now a growing number of bachelor's degree or higher education institutions that are offering cybersecurity.

Hindi ko na kina-count 'yung masters. You know masters is not really technical. It's more about going towards the philosophy of things, managing things, right?

So we really wanted to drill in doon sa technical. That's why we're counting the bachelors degrees. We need about 300,000 in about the next, until 2028.

HOWIE: 300,000?

USEC. DY: Yeah.

HOWIE: And how many... So how far do we have to go? How many do we have right now? May estimate ka?

USEC. DY: Malayo pa. I think we only have siguro mga 10,000 or less cybersecurity professionals. Hindi ko na binibilang 'yung sa gobyerno, ha. I'm talking about the entire, kasama na 'yung private sector.

You know why we need that much people? Because cyber attack is going to be mainstream.

In fact, sinasabi na namin sa PNP, dapat lahat ng cyber attacks, hindi na siya centralized to a special unit. Like PNP ACG, Anti-Cybercrime Group. Dapat lahat ng presinto, marunong mag-handle ng cybercrime because it is going to be a main crime. Hindi siya special crime. It's going to be the next common crime. In fact, nangyayari na ngayon, 'di ba? Scams sa GCash, phishing, et cetera. So we need that many professionals. Not only in government, but also in the private sector.

HOWIE: So Usec., what can you share about your own professional journey? How did you end up in the DICT?

USEC. DY: So I'm CISSP, Certified Information Security Systems Professional of ISC2. I think there's only like 200, less than 300 CISSPs in the Philippines. Medyo mahirap ang exam. Back then in the 1990s, when we were in college kasi wala pang ganyan. So I took Applied Physics. But I did through the certification path, CCNP. For everybody's information, I actually came from the private sector. I only joined government five years ago. So talagang ano ako, trained in the private sector. Ang karera ko talaga, usually before you go to cyber security, you have a certain specialization.

So my specialization is network engineering. So I know how to build this BGP or SPF, et cetera, so for the private sector. And then, pumutok na nga nu'ng 2000, 'yung mga mid to 2010, et cetera 'yung cyber security, information security. I took the chance. I took some certifications, I took some trainings, and I took up master's degree. And here I am.

But ang gusto ko sabihin lang is that there is a lot of people who are enamored with the mystical world of cyber security. So enamored, in fact, that they would like to test their skills using black hat orientation. Ito po, sasabihin ko sa inyo. Madaling gumamit ng tools pang-hack at i-hack ang isang government agency para sumikat ka.

Ang mas mahirap, maging ethical about it. It's like firing a gun. It's easy to buy one illegal gun, fire it, be very good at it. But being a law enforcer, being in the military, for example, who can fire your weapon at appropriate times only. Perhaps never in your life. Pang-training lang. 'Yan 'yung mas mahirap.

USEC. DY: So I would like to invite everyone who wanted to pursue their professional journey in cyber security. 'Wag po kayo mag-focus sa black hat. Mas mahirap po maging ethical or white hacker. So du'n tayo sa light. 'Wag tayo sa dark.

HOWIE: Wise advice. Wise advice, Usec. So I just want to ask, you know, as a final question, your department, the Department of Information and Communications Technology is one of the newer departments in government. Ano 'yung priorities and main concerns ninyo as a department?

USEC. DY: Ang priorities natin is to build the infrastructure. So if you look at layers, bago ka pumunta sa application, which is 'yung e-gov namin, nandiyan na 'yung e-gov app. I'm sure you're aware of it. The national ID. Nasa tuktok 'yan, e. Sa gitna niyan, data centers. Kung paano mo magagawa 'yung application kung wala kayong gitna, which is data.

So makikita mo ngayon 'yung priority namin. We wanted to go to the upper layer, which is how to make government efficient by providing a citizen's app. So that ang bawat isang Pilipino hindi na pipila. Mayroon na silang app para mag-transact sa government. Pero before ka umabot du'n, you need data management, data centers, and then you need connectivity. Right?

So ayan na, makikita mo rin 'yung priority. Connectivity is infrastructure. Make no mistake about it. Internet is very physical. Cable, wireless access points, et cetera. And so we're doing all of that. Plus of course, kung lahat ng ito'y gawa na, dalawa naman ngayon ang natitira. Training para magamit mo. So upskilling and security, para alam mo, you trust using that application.

So that you trust that you can use the services being offered you in the internet. So 'yun na, binanggit ko na 'yung limang priority namin. So eGov application or the citizen's app, data management, the infrastructure or connectivity. Then, supported by upskilling and cyber security.

HOWIE: Okay. This has been very enlightening, Usec. We want to thank you for your service and for shedding light on these very urgent problems of deepfakes and hacking, et cetera, Undersecretary Jeffrey Dy of the Department of Information and Communications Technology. Maraming-maraming salamat po. Mabuhay po kayo.

USEC. DY: Howie, salamat, Howie. At sa lahat ng nakikinig, maraming salamat. Bye.