Playing footsies with enemy

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) pinpointed China as the culprit for the spying operations with the use of the Internet.

The United Kingdom cyber security firm Sophos investigated intrusions into a Southeast Asian nation that was not identified but with a huge certainty was the Philippines.

The report stated the target of the cyberattack was a prominent agency of a Southeast Asian nation.

The espionage is related to the South China Sea conflict, according to the report.

While Sophos gave a worrying account of the hacking operations to obtain vital military information that merited the UK firm giving it the label “Crimson Palace project,” it is doubly concerning that the leaked information could have been provided by officials entrusted to secure the integrity of the data network.

Crimson Palace is a long-running hacking operation by Chinese state actors that lasted from at least early 2022 until December 2023 and the operations may have obtained huge help from local fifth columnists.

Officials at odds

Heads of two departments in a controversial agency became foes of each other with one official tossing her responsibilities to her colleague.

The two heads traded barbs on their group chat regarding the failure to arrange the supposed visit of the department secretary to an international sporting event that is happening in the country.

It is said that the lady head of the communications team did not coordinate with the protocol team which created confusion.

“If the event was not covered, it’s our fault. But if covered then you are having a big clap. We are co-equal, and I am not your staff nor my staff,” the department head aired on their group chat.

The comms head, being the protector of her lady boss, is very famous with reporters because she is the only communications head who finds it hard to answer queries from the media.

During briefings and ambush interviews, the lady comms head would approach the reporters and filter the questions that make media men disgusted.

Raffy Ayeng

Cashless tollways near

The dream of finally having a cashless toll road remains far-fetched, especially now that the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) pushed back its implementation to October from its original schedule of March this year.

TRB executive director Alvin Carullo said the Technical Working Group recently held a meeting to discuss the plan.

“It appears the recommendation of the TRB audit team is to defer it until October because of numerous operational issues,” Carullo said.

According to Carullo, San Miguel Corp., which operated the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX), Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEX), and Metro Manila Skyway, still has toll plazas that have yet to pass the TRB requirements.

Additionally, the TRB still has to account for the migration of the Cavite Expressway, operated by the Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., to a new Toll Collection System.

“We are now conducting the site acceptance test for the new system. It will take time,” he said.

To date, about 90 percent of the total motorists using expressways are equipped with RFIDs.

However, the TRB pointed out that many of them failed to load their card properly therefore causing jams in toll plazas.

Maria Romero