TROJAN HORSES FOR SURPRISE ATTACKS?
However, CNA also asked Mr Uy about new warnings from economists that China may use POGOs as” spartan ponies” for surprise attacks on the Philippines, in case of a conflict.
While he did not confirm the risk, he noted that the government have “busted a lot of scamming cartels” 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. Some carpets are not intended for gambling activities. They’re doing fraud activities or phishing functions”, Mr Uy added.
He even revealed that among those arrested were” Chinese people” who were “victimising Chinese, Singaporeans” as well as their fellow countrymen.
” I think the government is now seriously looking into how this new place of cyber risks is taking place in this industry, and I think we should ban it or improve our regulatory supervision over this,” said Mr. Uy.
He cited continued disputes regarding the advantages and drawbacks of holding such operations.
” I think our government is also looking at how these may be appropriately addressed”, he added.
Stand ON Twitter
Separately, Mr Uy spoke about his government’s approach on the popular video game TikTok, which is owned by Chinese family business ByteDance.
Manila claims regulation is essential to addressing any spying concerns despite the US’s threat to boycott the social media platform.
According to Mr. Uy, there is no justification for a TikTok restrictions unless there is compelling evidence that the software has been compromised.
” If you’re talking about social media platforms, you’re talking about streaming services or electronic- trading systems. They all use the same design, they gather information, they analyse your information, and then they customise your selections based on those files … and that’s the company model”, he noted.
” So we can, in my opinion, isolate one particular system and state that we want to ban you because you’re using it, but nobody else who’s using the same thing is fine unless there is a strong evidence that the system is compromised,” he said. It is used for malicious functions.  ,
Finally, he continued,” We have to look into that before we decide whether it should be a system that should be restricted.”