Bank hackers: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has signed a law denouncing the hacking of banking systems as a form of economic sabotage, punishable by imprisonment and a fine ranging from 1 to 5 million.
Law 11449 was signed on August 28 and considers as financial sabotage the hacking of a bank's system, the acquisition of 50 or more payment cards, and an illegal act affecting 50 or more bank accounts, credit cards, payment cards, and debit cards.
Imprisonment of 12 to 20 years and a fine of at least P500,000 will be imposed on anyone who is in possession of 10 or more illegal access and can access at least one account or had earned money from the illegal use of such devices.
In the case of an offender who is found to be in possession of 10 or more illegal access devices or similar devices and is not proven to have accessed any account or made money, the penalty shall be six to twelve years imprisonment and a fine of P300,000 or twice the equivalent of the total amount of all affected or exposed bank accounts.
Illegal use of a credit card will be punishable by four to six years in prison and a fine of twice the value of the stolen card.
A fine amounting to P800,000 and imprisonment of 12 to 20 years shall be imposed against those who violated Section 9 of RA 8484 after conviction for another offense under the same section or attempted commission of the same offense.
The new law requires banks, other financial institutions, and merchant partners to submit real-time reports on fraud incidents on access devices to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Cybercrime Group of the Philippine National Police (PNP).
The report should include a description of the fraud committed and the identification of the perpetrator, if possible.
The new measure also stated that the report will be of significant assistance to the NBI or the PNP team in their efforts to combat cybercrime by hackers.
