AFP to hire cyber experts vs hackers, fraudsters

MANILA, Philippines — With the geopolitical tensions and attack escalation taking place in the country, including those on the internet, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is preparing to recruit cybersecurity professionals for a planned new Cyber Command that will combat cyber hackers and fraudsters.

AFP chief of staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said the creation of this new command is aimed at developing the Armed Forces’ cyber warfare capability.

“Almost every day, we experience attacks, attempts to attack our systems. So far, we have been successful in thwarting these attacks and protecting our networks. We want to maintain that,” Brawner said during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum at Cafe Adriatico in Manila on Wednesday.

He noted that cyber hackers, whether state-sponsored or simply fraudsters, are always looking for vulnerabilities to penetrate the AFP systems.

“We are developing the Cyber Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. We will pour in more resources, pour in hardware and software and more importantly, we will recruit cyber warriors,” he pointed out.

Brawner said the new command is patterned after the Cyber Command of the US Armed Forces and Singapore’s Digital and Information Service – a separate service that is equal to their Army, Air Force and Navy.

Since this is a modern specialized unit, the normal recruitment for soldiers would have to be relaxed, he said as he noted that the physical fitness requirements might become an issue in recruiting cybersecurity-savvy people into the armed service.

“We will relax some of our recruitment requirement for them… Special enlistment, special considerations,” Brawner said.

The recruits would be given the rank of captain under a lateral entry scheme similar to other professionals recruited into the military like doctors, nurses, lawyers and engineers, he explained.

The rank gets a salary and allowances reaching up to P70,000 a month.

But Brawner clarified that “we’re still in the planning stage… drawing up the plans for the specific creation of that” as he noted that the AFP already has an existing communications unit and a cyber unit.

“We already have an existing AFP Communications, Electronic and Information (Systems) Service. Our Cyber Group is also existing. So we are going to combine these two (units) so we will have a better equipped cyber command. We will also integrate their personnel and expertise. But, we still need more. That’s why we’re going to recruit more cyber warriors,” Brawner said party in Filipino.

He stressed that the combined units would oversee the cyber defense of the AFP and the entire country.

“Integration is important (because it would combine) the cyber units of the major services – the Army, the Air Force and the Navy,” Brawner said, adding that this arm of the AFP might be formed by the first quarter of 2024.