Allan Cabanlong

Assistant Secretary Of CyberSecurity And Enabling Technology Of The Department Of Information And Communications Technology

Engineer Allan Salim Cabanlong is an ASEAN Engineer, a Professional Electronics Engineer, and a graduate of Masters of Science in Global Information and Telecommunications Studies (Chief Information Officer/IT Disciplinary Research Course) at the Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan. He was instrumental in the passage of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.

For thirteen (13) years and two (2) months, Engineer Cabanlong served the Philippines through the Philippine National Police (PNP) – Information Technology Management Service (ITMS). He held various positions with PNP including Chief of Web Services and Cybersecurity Division and Chief of the Information Technology Office. Working with the police and witnessing the rising statistics in cybercrime have intensified his fervor to safeguard the Filipino people in cyberspace.

Engineer Cabanlong is a recipient of various local and international awards in the field of Electronics Engineering, Information and Communications Technology (ICT), Law Enforcement, and Cyber Security. He is one of the Honorees of the 2015 Asia-Pacific Information Security Leadership Achievements (ISLA) Awards in the Senior Information Security Professional Category awarded by the (ISC-squared); a recipient of the Ten Outstanding Electronics Engineers of the Philippines in 2014; the PNP-ITMS Commissioned Officer of the Year 2014 and 2012; and also the recipient of the 2015 Special Citation for Outstanding Professional of the Philippines given by the Professional Regulations Commission (PRC), just to name a few.

He was one of the contributors of the 2012 published book in the United States entitled “Law, Policy and Technology: Cyber Terrorism, Information Warfare and Internet Immobilization” which was edited by Pauline Reich and Eduardo Gelbstein; and “Cyber Warfare: A Review of Theories, Law, Policies, Actual Incidents – and the Dilemma of Anonymity in European Journal of Law and Technology”, Vol. 1, Issue 2, 2010 which he co-wrote with Pauline C. Reich, Stuart Weinstein, and Charles Wild.

Engineer Cabanlong held the rank of Police Chief Inspector (Major) when he was appointed by the incumbent Philippine President Rodrigo Roa Duterte as one of the four Assistant Secretaries of the newly created Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT). His service as an Assistant Secretary of the DICT headed by the first Secretary Rodolfo A. Salalima is a landmark in Philippine history, being one of the firsts to have served the newly created government agency.

Early on in his stint with the DICT, he became instrumental in the creation of the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordination Center (CICC) and was given the responsibility of heading it as Executive Director. It is the inter-agency body for policy coordination and implementation among concerned agencies and for the formulation and enforcement of the National Cybersecurity Plan (NCP). Currently, Assistant Secretary Cabanlong is working on getting the Center running on its full potential.

To enable the efficient function of the CICC and to give direction to the national campaign of a safer cyberspace for every Filipino, Assistant Secretary Cabanlong initiated and spearheaded the crafting of the National Cybersecurity Plan (NCSP) 2022. Just within two months in office, the Cybersecurity and Enabling Technologies unit of the DICT launched the National Cybersecurity Plan 2022.