President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has directed the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to remain on high alert and take all necessary precautions against potential cyberattacks anticipated on November 5.

In a message read by Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary and Palace Press Officer Claire Castro during a Palace press briefing on Tuesday, Information and Communications Secretary Henry Aguda said the President instructed DICT and all government cyber teams to be vigilant and take necessary preventive measures.

“The President directed DICT and all cyber teams in government to be vigilant and prepare for the November 5 possible DDoS attacks,” Aguda said.

“DICT has activated Oplan Cyberdome to ensure that all digital services of the government as well as privately operated critical information infrastructures such as banks, telcos, hospitals, et cetera, are also protected and ready to respond to any DDoS attacks,” he added.

DICT earlier warned of a potential Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack that could temporarily disrupt websites and online services by flooding target servers with massive internet traffic from multiple compromised systems.

Castro said Aguda made the assurance that the DICT, together with the private sector, is working closely to safeguard the country’s digital infrastructure.

“The public is assured that the government and the private sectors are working hand in hand to ensure all digital services are available and secure,” Castro said, quoting Aguda.

Castro said DICT also guaranteed that agencies will continue to provide in-person services in case of temporary unavailability of online services. Presidential News Desk