The Quezon City government will prosecute to the full extent of the law hackers and other cyber-criminals who would attempt to tinker with its data and information system.
Mayor Joy Belmonte made this warning as she issued an order to beef up the city government’s cyber security efforts as it moves most of its services online, in consonance with the Ease of Doing Business Act and the “new normal”.
In her Executive Order No. 4-2021, Belmonte also mandated the strict enforcement of the Data Privacy Act and the Cybercrime Prevention Act to reassure the public of the safety and security of the City’s online systems.
“This should serve as a warning to those who would try to tinker with the city government’s data because we will deal with them with the full force of the law,” said Belmonte.
“We also assure our residents that there’s nothing to worry about because your data is safe,” she added.
Among the offenses punishable under the Cybercrime Prevention Act are illegal access, illegal interception, data interference, system interference, computer-related forgery, computer-related fraud, and computer-related identity theft.
Unauthorized processing of personal information, unauthorized access or intentional breach and large-scale offenses involving the personal information of at least 100 persons are all punishable under the Data Privacy Act.
She also tasked the Office of the City Administrator to serve as lead office in recommending, overseeing and ensuring best-practice cyber security for the City’s online systems, in coordination with the Information Technology and Development Department (ITDD).
“As the City moves into the digital space, the risk of online intrusion against vital public and private data correspondingly increases,” Belmonte said in her order.
These cyber-security measures include application security, information security, network security, data backup and recovery, operational security and employee training.
The services that will be shifted online include the QC E-Services web portal, the QC Biz Easy online business permits service, and the QC ID online registration system, among others.
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