Internet technology has not only brought manifold benefits to businesses, but has also helped the governments in improving the public service mechanism. Like many other countries, the Philippines has also witnessed growth in the field of information technology. Philippines is one of the low cost outsourcing destinations in the world. However, the very technology, which provides tremendous benefits to the society, is being misused by criminals and other anti-social elements to serve their own cause. Perpetrators of crime are always on the lookout to extract confidential information concerning to Internet users, business organizations, government bodies, scientific institutions and intelligence agencies. With the use of sophisticated mechanisms, cybercriminals may even hijack and take control of a computer system from a remote location and use it for malicious purposes. Therefore, information security assumes high significance. While the threats in the cyberspace need to be dealt with proactively, lack of proper laws hinders attempts of law enforcement authorities in controlling the crime. Cybercrime laws across the world lack homogeneity. Lack of awareness among citizens is also one of the major causes behind increased instances of cybercrime.

Recently, the second International conference on cybercrime was held at the Filipino city of Makati. Speakers at the conference emphasized on early passage of anti-cybercrime bill pending with the Congress. The bill was introduced by Senator Edgardo J. Angara and is currently under consideration of the congressional committees. The Department of Justice is considering creation of a national cybercrime office. The cybercrime office will strive to defend against the rising number of Internet related crimes. The department also plans to launch a country wide information network to create a database of convicted criminals. The information network called the National Justice Information Network will facilitate counter-crime agencies in tracking the past record and alerting the customers. The information network will facilitate greater coordination between different government departments, information security professionals and counter-crime agencies.

The department is also mulling implementing electronic case monitoring, to enable the investigative agencies to monitor the status of the pending cases. Electronic case monitoring may also help in creating awareness among people and business organizations on different types of prevalent threats in the cyberspace and shed light on the techniques used by criminals to deceive Internet users. The headquarters of the Department of Justice is now Wi-Fi enabled. The department also plans to open several social media accounts. The move may benefit the department in improving coordination with different agencies and disseminating information to the public.

Government departments and business organizations may fortify their IT infrastructure against cyber threats by conducting regular in-depth tests through ethical hacking and weeding out vulnerabilities. The fight against cybercrime requires better collaboration between counter crime agencies of different countries. International cybercrime treaties may also help in controlling the borderless Internet crime.