Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said that his order limiting the use of Artificial Intelligence applications in the defense sector was part of the Department of National Defense's operational security measures following the spate of cyber attacks against Philippine government agencies.

The DND's internal order, signed by Teodoro on 18 October, directed all the defense employees and personnel of the Armed Forces of the Philippines to refrain from using AI photo generator apps.

Teodoro reiterated such a system may pose significant security risks and give access to hackers to attack individuals or the entire security organization.

He clarified that the DND's order is part of its monitoring measures to prevent non-state actors from including the country's defense sector in their cybersecurity attacks.

"These hackers are paralyzing the governmental system to get money. It has been happening in America," he noted.

Teodoro pressed the need to strengthen the country's cybersecurity parallel to boosting our defense deterrent posture.

"Kailangan pagtibayin natin ang ating operational security, unang una na po ang ating internet hygiene na ang bawat empleyado kawani ng (We need to strengthen our operational security, first of all our internet hygiene that every employee) of DND and AFP personnel," he said.

"We shall exercise utmost operation security, especially nowadays," he added.

Teodoro has again warned that AI-powered applications seemed "harmless and amusing" but could be "maliciously used" to create fake profiles that can lead to identity theft, social media engineering, phishing attacks, and other erring activities that compromise someone's personal data.