MARINA to resume processing of seafarer' SIDs, SRBs on Sept. 1 after cyberattack

The Maritime Authority Industry (MARINA) on Monday announced that it will resume the processing of Seafarer's Identity Document (SID) and Seafarer's Record Book (SRB) on September 1 following the recent security breach on their system.

MARINA Administrator Sonia Malaluan confirmed the security breach happened last August 13. Hence, they had to issue certifications for the meantime seafarers who are bound to travel with expired SIDs.

"Kailangan namin i-stop ang processing ng SID at SRB. So meaning, the whole system, we have to put it down para masigurado na hindi na lumala habang hindi pa alam kung ano talaga ang nangyari...After several hours, at the end of August 13, it seems medyo nahirapan agad-agad ibalik ang sistema," she said in a press conference.

(We needed to stop the processing of the SID and SRB. Meaning, we had to take down the whole system to ensure it wouldn't get worse while we still didn't know what actually happened... After several hours, at the end of August 13, it seemed quite difficult to restore the system immediately.)

"Ang MARINA naman, we implemented measure na yung mga aalis nating seafarers ay makaalis, so we issued a certification. Ito po ay mga expired SID," Malaluan added.

(On MARINA's end, we implemented measures so that our departing seafarers could still leave, so we issued a certification. These are for those with expired SIDs.)

MARINA said they conducted tests on their system over the weekend, which showed successful results.

"Sa ngayon po, mayroon kaming successful testing nitong Sabado,at patuloy pa rin po today. Pero nakakapag-print na po kami ng mga SIDs, SRBs, pero this will be under our very controlled environment muna. Hindi po lahatan," said Malaluan.

(As of now, we had a successful test this Saturday, and it's still ongoing today. But we are now able to print SIDs and SRBs, though this will be under our very controlled environment for now. It won't be for everyone yet.)

The MARINA official added that the processing of SIDs and SRBs will be done in its central office for now.

"We can assure by tomorrow, stop na po namin yung certification. Uunahin po natin bigyan ng SIDs, SRDs lahat ng papaalis na. ‘Yung testing po natin ay dito muna sa Central Office. So concentrated muna kami dito sa Manila," said Malaluan.

(We can assure that by tomorrow, we will stop issuing certifications. We will prioritize giving SIDs and SRBs to all those who are about to depart. Our testing for now is here at the Central Office. So we are concentrated here in Manila for the time being.)

"Patuloy ang restoration of the entire system. We are taking slowly but carefully to make sure na ang security natin ay hindi na ulit mako-compromise," she added.

(The restoration of the entire system is ongoing. We are taking it slowly but carefully to make sure that our security will not be compromised again.) —RF, GMA News