By Perfecto Raymundo
The Department of Justice Wednesday cautioned all to observe the rule of law specially with the effectivity of Republic Act No. 10175, otherwise known as the “
Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012â€.
â€Precisely the purpose of the law is to protect our citizens from unscrupulous and abusive actions of misfits and the wicked in society,†DOJ Secretary Leila M. De Lima said.
â€We see massive cyber fraud, state-sponsored terrorism, telecommunications hacking, credit card scams and consumer schemes that the State is mandated to investigate and prosecute,†De Lima added.
She pointed out there is no doubt that cybercrime is a global crime that requires immediate and adequate response.
â€Disagreeing with certain sections of the law or questioning the legislative intent is no excuse to commit crimes – defacing websites whether government or not, disrupting essential operations and services, and causing damage to scarce resources,†she pointed out.
Section 4(a) of R.A. No. 10175 punishes acts against the confidentiality, integrity and availability of computer data and systems. These include illegal access, illegal interception, data interference, system interference, misuse of devices, and cyber-squatting.
The existing R.A. No. 8792, or the “E-Commerce Lawâ€, penalizes hacking under Section 33(a).
The DOJ has secured two convictions under this provision.
â€The number of incidents and the ease of hacking government websites only shows the vulnerability of our country’s ICT (information and communications technology) framework and proves the necessity of a cybercrime law to protect us against criminal syndicates and transnational organized crime,†DOJ Assistant Secretary Geronimo L. Sy said.
De Lima has designated Sy as head of the DOJ Office of Cybercrime.
The Office of Cybercrime is set to implement the law to ensure the continued development of the business processing outsourcing, to protect critical infrastructure and to encourage the use of technology and social media by netizens who report abuses and are victims of crimes over the internet.
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