DICT: Preliminary findings show Comelec data hacking not possible

The reported hacking incident on the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) data servers is not possible, according to the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).

“Preliminary findings suggest that a hack was not possible due to the Vote-Counting Machine (VCM) system being offline and the lack of existing data on the Automated Election System (AES) that could be breached,” the DICT said in a statement.

Acting ICT Secretary Emmanuel Rey Caintic earlier ordered the department’s Cybersecurity Bureau to conduct its own investigation into the reported hacking on the poll body’s data.

The order was based on the January 10 published report by the Manila Bulletin that indicated hackers allegedly gained access to the Comelec’s servers and allegedly stole crucial files including usernames and personal identification numbers of vote-counting machines (VCMs).

The Manila Bulletin Tech News team reported that 60 gigabytes of data was illegally acquired from the servers.

Despite its initial finding, the DICT said its Cybersecurity Bureau continues to closely monitor the alleged incident and is in constant coordination with relevant agencies on the investigation of the supposed hacking incident of the Comelec’s servers last January 8.

“Moving forward, the DICT plans to continue its coordination with the CICC (Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center), Comelec, and other concerned agencies on the matter,” it said.

“The DICT will undertake the necessary measures to ensure a fair and secure electoral process, and is ready to assist the Comelec on related cybersecurity concerns,” it added.

The Comelec has said that it was validating the alleged hacking of poll data and has questioned the report's veracity by arguing that there is nothing to hack since such data is not yet available.

The National Privacy Commission (NPC) is also investigating the reported data hacking incident, saying the poll body should also probe the incident and submit the result of its investigation to the NPC by January 21.

The NPC issued orders for the appearance of the concerned parties— Comelec, Manila Bulletin, and Art Samaniego Jr., Technology editor and IT head of the Manila Bulletin —in a clarificatory meeting on January 25.—AOL, GMA News