BI also experienced hacking attempts, Tansingco says

Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco on Tuesday said hackers also attempted to hack into their system, but the cyberattack was unsuccessful. 

“May attempts. Kasi every quarter nagpapa-evaluate tayo with DICT (Department of Information and Communications Technology) kung anong itsura ng system natin. So parang may mga attempts pero hindi nagiging succesful,” Tansingco said in a media forum.

(There were attempts. Every quarter, we ask the DICT to evaluate our system. So, we saw there were attempts, but they were unsuccessful.)

In early October, hackers leaked the compromised data from a recent ransomware attack against the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth).

Over the weekend, the website of the House of Representatives was defaced by hackers.

Tansingco said that following these instances, he immediately asked his IT Department if the BI could withstand such attacks.

“Ang sabi sa akin, kaya. Hindi tayo mapapasok,” he said.

(They told me, we can withstand it. We will not be hacked.)

However, he later said clarified that it is still possible.

“Sabi nga ng IT natin, kung gusto talaga pasukin kaya ‘yan. Pero maraming dadaanan. Active ‘yung anti-virus natin, mga firewalls natin,” he said.

(I was told by IT that if they really want to, they can. But they have to bypass a lot of protection. Our anti-virus and firewalls are active.)

Aside from the cyber attacks on PhilHealth and House of Representatives, the same issues also hit the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), and the Philippine National Police (PNP).

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. previously expressed frustration amid the data leaks in government agencies. 

Marcos reportedly instructed the DICT to be proactive and to enhance its defense. —VAL, GMA Integrated News