By Joseph Anthony a. Damgo
The Philippine National Police (PNP) yesterday reported the number of cybercrime cases in the country dropped by a whopping 36 percent in the first half of this year.
The PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group bared it had logged a total of 8,177 complaints from January to June 30, down from 12,808 in the same period last year.
"The significant decrease in cybercrime complaints from January 1 to June 30, 2024, compared to the same period in 2023, reflects the effectiveness of cybersecurity measures implemented by businesses and government agencies," the ACG said.
The ACG added that cybercrimes such as online scams showed a downtrend, which it attributed to its improved enforcement and awareness campaigns.
There was, however, an increase in cyberlibel cases and photo and video voyeurism, according to the ACG, attributing this to heightened online engagement and easier sharing of content.
PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo assured there would be no letdown in its campaign against cybercrimes saying the police force has committed to allocating more resources and enhancing capabilities to combat the growing threat of cyber-related offenses.
"We are providing information technology (IT) trainings to our personnel and we are also pleased that other government agencies, such as the DICT (Department of Information and Communications Technology), are also providing capacity training programs for our IT officers. That is one of our directions in terms of ramping up our cybersecurity," Fajardo said.
She added that ACG and the Directorate for Information and Communications Technology Management train investigators on handling cybercrime cases.
"We hope that before the year ends, we would have cybercrime desks in each police station)," she said.
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