Acorda eyes Pinoy apps vs cybercrimes

MANILA, Philippines — With cybercrimes continuously evolving, Philippine National Police chief Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr. wants the PNP to have homegrown applications to combat crimes being perpetrated on the internet.

Acorda said the PNP should have its own technology, instead of procuring systems from other countries in addressing cybercrimes.

He explained that procuring such applications is costly, aside from the problem that these cyber security systems would become obsolete after a certain period of time.

“For now, we are at par, we are on the same standards as other countries. But after how many months, this would also become old or obsolete,” Acroda said partly in Filipino over Radyo Pilipinas.

He took note of last year’s hacking of the database of some PNP units, including the Facebook pages of the Human Rights Affairs Office and the PNP Drug Enforcement Group, and the rampant online sale of prohibited firecrackers and pyrotechnic devices during the Yuletide season.

He also mentioned the transnational crimes being perpetrated through the use of the internet.

To combat these scenarios, Acorda wanted the PNP to have its own cyber security system to deal with cybercrimes.

Acorda lauded the Department of Information and Communications Technology for coming up with its own cyber security system.

The PNP currently has the Anti-Cybercrime Group, though limited in terms of manpower, as its lead unit in dealing with cybercrimes.