To meet China’s challenges to Philippine sovereignty, don’t forget cybersecurity

On June 18, the Chinese Coast Guard seized two Philippine rubber boats resupplying the Sierra Madre in a brazen act of escalation in the maritime domain. The action injured several Filipino military personnel–one sailor even lost a thumb.

While this crisis has rightfully spurred high-level attention from media and policymakers in Manila, it should not distract from Beijing’s less visible but equally grave escalation in another domain: cyberspace.

In recent years, China has adopted a far more aggressive posture in cyberspace -- expanding from espionage and data theft to influence operations and the infiltration of critical infrastructure for potential disruption. Traces of Chinese hackers’ handiwork have been discovered in critical infrastructure systems worldwide, where they are poised to disrupt civilian systems at Beijing’s command.

Chinese hackers have also targeted military and government organizations in the Indo-Pacific in conjunction with aggressive maritime operations.

In August 2023, for example, a Chinese advanced persistent threat (APT) actor managed to compromise government systems in the Philippines and elsewhere in the Indo-Pacific around the same time that a Chinese ship fired water cannons at a Philippine Coast Guard vessel.

As the Philippines weighs its policy options in countering Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific, officials must also reckon with potential cyber risks and countermeasures.

As the Philippines’ digital economy expands, so do opportunities for cyberattacks. The digital economy grew by 93 percent during the COVID-19 pandemic, now constituting 8.4% of the national economy, contributing about P2 trillion. A Telenor Asia survey indicates that over 86% of Filipinos spend at least half their day on mobile devices.

This rapid digitalization exposes Filipinos to risks like malware from suspicious links and manipulated information campaigns, tactics increasingly used by Chinese hackers.

The country’s swift digital growth has also made it a prime target for phishing and ransomware attacks. In 2021, the Philippines was the world’s fourth-highest malware target, and ransomware attacks doubled between 2022 and 2023.

Notably, the government