The head of the newly created Information Communications and Technology Office (ICTO) is urging lawmakers to immediately pass the 'cybercrime' bill after a recent hacking of government systems.

ICTO executive director Fortunato Dela Pe?a also urges the passage of the Freedom of Information (FOI) or data privacy law to help protect online data and transactions.

“The immediate passage of the cybercrime bill and data-privacy bill would solidify government policy on hacking and other threats and deter crimes in cyberspace,” said Dela Pe?a, who is also concurrently Department of Science and Technology (DoST).

The ICTO used to be the Commission on ICT or CICT, which was transferred earlier this year under the DoST following an executive order by President Benigno Aquino III.

Dela Pe?a raised the passage of the long-pending cybercrime proposals after DoST's email system reportedly fell prey to hacking.

“The ICTO notes with concern the spate of cases of cyberhacking of Philippine government websites,” he said.

“Although neither sensitive data has been stolen and used for malicious intent, nor public services paralyzed after the email hacking, the increasing occurrence of attacks is a concern that is not being taken lightly by the government.”

Better security—through best practices and better policies such as the cybercrime and FOI bills—is the way to prevent cyberhacking and other attacks on the web, said the ICTO official.

Most government websites, however, are developed using in-house using coding practices that are below standard and did not undergo rigorous security testing to prevent SQL injection and cross-site scripting, said Dela Pe?a.

Others do not have a configured firewall to prevent attacks as well, he added.

He said ICTO will initiate “capacity building” of government website administrators “to develop, maintain, and monitor secure websites, systems, and networks that will be immune to hacking and cyberattacks while promoting best practices in both public and private sector”.