The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) officially sealed on Wednesday, July 21, its alliance with the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) in combatting the escalating wave of cybercrime in the Philippines.
UNODC senior resident policy advisor Olivier Georges Lermet and CICC executive director Alexander K. Ramos signed the cooperation agreement at the National Cybercrime Hub (NCH) in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.
“The digital sphere has regrettably become a breeding ground for transnational organized crime groups, exploiting technology to orchestrate deeply troubling activities — from bespoke ransomware attacks to jeopardizing critical infrastructures, extensive spam campaigns, and the abhorrent live-streaming of child sexual exploitation,” UNODC Lermet said during the signing ceremony.
UNODC said that from 2017 to 2021, the number of cyber threats within the Philippines increased by 433 percent.
The number of online sexual abuse of children tied to the Philippines in 2022 reached 3.3 million, nearly double the figure of the previous year, according to UNODC.
