TROJAN HORSES FOR SURPRISE ATTACKS?
Meanwhile, CNA also asked Mr Uy about recent warnings from analysts that China could use POGOs as “trojan horses” for surprise attacks on the Philippines, in case of a conflict.
While he did not confirm the threat, he noted that the authorities have “busted a lot of scamming syndicates” that are operating as POGOs.
“They apply for a legitimate licence and then have their facade operating, or perhaps (they’re) actually operating as a POGO … but they occupy a whole building. Certain floors are not dedicated for gambling operations. They’re doing scam operations or phishing operations,” Mr Uy added.
He also revealed that among those arrested were “Chinese employees” who were “victimising Taiwanese, Singaporeans” as well as their fellow countrymen.
“I think the government now is looking seriously into how this new area of cyber threats is happening in this sector, and see whether we should ban it, or we should increase our regulatory oversight over this,” said Mr Uy.
He noted ongoing debates over the benefits and risks of hosting such operations.
“I think our legislature is also looking at how these can be properly addressed,” he added.
STANCE ON TIKTOK
Separately, Mr Uy spoke about his nation’s stance on the popular video app TikTok, which is owned by Chinese parent company ByteDance.
While the US is threatening to ban the social media platform, Manila says regulation is key to addressing any espionage concerns.
Mr Uy said there is no basis for a TikTok ban unless there is clear evidence that the app is compromised.
“If you’re talking about social media platforms, you’re talking about streaming services or e-commerce platforms. They all use the same model, they gather data, they analyse your data, and then they customise your preferences based on those data … and that’s the business model,” he noted.
“So we cannot, I think, isolate one particular platform and say that we want to ban you because you’re using this, but everybody else that’s using the same thing is okay – unless there is a clear showing that the platform is compromised. It is used for nefarious purposes.
“Then we have to look into that before we make a decision on whether it should be a platform that should be restricted,” he added.
