Comelec on alleged hacking of 2022 poll data: No evidence of breach

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Wednesday assured the public that election data for the 2022 polls were not hacked, disputing an earlier newspaper report. 

Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez was referring to the Manila Bulletin  report which claimed that upon its verification, Comelec data — network diagrams, IP addresses, list of all privileged users, domain admin credentials, among others — were hacked. 

He earlier said they were still 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.

At the press conference Wednesday, Jimenez said:  “We see no evidence of any sort of breach. It is not from 2019 elections, not from 2022 elections. Kaya dudang duda kami na na-hack (That is why we are highly doubtful that 2022 polls data were hacked).”  

“We have confidence in the security of our system, that our data is hardened and cannot be unlawfully accessed,” he added.

Jimenez, however, clarified that the poll body is taking such reports of alleged hacking seriously and has started conducting its own investigation. 

“No matter how farfetched it is, malalamatan ang credibility ng elections (such reports put the credibility of the elections on the edge) with the questions being asked,” he said. 

“That is why it is important for the Comelec to address this squarely and show to everyone that our system is secure and we are doing every possible and necessary steps to make sure the data is protected. We have to defend the integrity of the elections,” he added.

Jimenez also admitted that the Comelec had been informed of such alleged hacking by the Manila Bulletin back in January 8, and that the poll body took time to respond. 

“We are taking it through proper channels. Hindi namin basta basta dadambahin ang information nila. (We cannot just jump in on their information),” he said. “We have to verify their information,” he added.

The National Privacy Commission (NPC) earlier said it is already investigating the alleged leak, and that the Comelec has a lot to explain about such report. 

Jimenez said they welcome this NPC initiative and any other investigation.

“We are working hard to validate the allegations and the Comelec welcomes this investigation. We are very eager to participate in this exercise,” he added. — RSJ, GMA News