Gov’t says election integrity not compromised by data leak

Communications Secretary Sonny Coloma. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Malacañang on Friday assured the electorate that the integrity of the automated elections system remains unaffected despite the hacking of the Comelec website and  the leakage of the personal data of millions of registered voters.

Communications Secretary Herminio “Sonny” Coloma Jr., in a statement, condemned the latest cyberattack on the poll body and assured the public that the government is working together with other concerned agencies to strengthen its security protocols online.

“Government strongly condemns the latest cyber-attack on the website of the Comelec. Concerned government agencies, including the Department of Science and Technology-Information and Communications Technology Office (DOST-ICTO), are closely coordinating with the Comele to further strengthen its security protocols,” Coloma said.

READ: Comelec apologizes to public as new website leaks voters’ data

“Although verifications that have been made thus far have shown that the integrity of the automated election system has not been affected by the latest cyberattack, we share the public’s concern on the ill-effects of this act,” he said.

“Government is determined to ensure that similar acts will not be repeated in the future and that the perpetrators will be prosecuted in accordance with law,” Coloma added.

On Thursday afternoon, the website “Philippines, we have your data” surfaced online claiming it has data that include the first and last names, birthdates, personal addresses, passport information, precinct and other sensitive information of the voters.

The Comelec apologized for voters’ data leaks.

READ: Comelec hacker arrested, asks NBI chief for a selfie

The National Bureau of Investigation arrested on Wednesday night Paul Biteng, a 23-year-old  information technology graduate who allegedly hacked the Comelec website. IDL