Soon we will be paying more for digital services, even internet identifier like domain names can be included, and that's a definitive VAT. In PH it's equivalent to 12%. Although, we still have to see invoice for domain names registration and renewal fees being added with VAT. You should be getting reminders from your local and international service providers to key-in your tax details, if you haven't yet done so. We must say, this is especially for those who had to directly acquire digital services with the source and not through local resellers. If you've been dealing with local resellers, your digital services may probably have been subjected with, and had added, VAT included in your payment ever since. You should be, but you have to check it. For online local retailers, you may have been VAT registered and paying your taxes with or without that digital tax. Don't take this as an advice and ascertain it with your accountant to be sure.
Are Philippine institutions being targeted or simply being probed? We don't know for certain. It could be either or both. Whichever comes first? What we can understand, with the success of such attacks, is that they have found their way. Really. How hard or easy? The attacker knows, but probably, also, those being attacked. Inclination should be there no matter how sophisticated our security systems are. In cybersecurity, we do a very focused job. Making sure we disappoint whoever is trying to gain access to any resource without permission and authority regardless of the environment we are in. What happened is that every asset deemed to have every variant of resource built-in, operating, that makes up the entire system working whatever it is trying to employ, in that case the primary purpose. Meaning, we have to know if we are running our system in a manner that is really secure, provisioned properly during design stage and managed continuously afterwards, post-implementatio...