Alleged hacks hit at most 20 government agencies – CICC

MANILA, Philippines — Hackers have claimed breaches of around 20 government agencies, about twice the number that have formally reported data incidents to the privacy regulator, the head of the government’s cybercrime coordinating body said.

Investigators are also checking whether some of the supposedly stolen data are "old exploits" passed off as new.

Renato Paraiso, executive director of the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC), said in a radio interview that the 20 agencies hit by breaches are based on alleged hacks whose authors posted purported data as proof. 

"Based on the various alleged hacks and incidents — along with the alleged information they claim to have obtained, which is being presented as evidence — there are quite a number of them; around 20," Paraiso said in Filipino on dzBB Super Radyo. 

The official tally of 10, meanwhile, came from government agencies that believed citizens' personal information had been compromised, which legally requires them to notify the National Privacy Commission (NPC).

The NPC said on Tuesday, November 10, it had received breach notifications from the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the DICT, the Presidential Commission on Good Government, the Department of Labor and Employment, PAGCOR, the Department of Justice, the Philippine Coast Guard, the Department of Trade and Industry and Phivolcs.  

The vulnerabilities exposed by the breaches in the BIR and SEC have "not just been contained but also remediated," Paraiso said, adding that investigators are still trying to identify the real identities of those responsible for the hacks. 

Paraiso confirmed that some data had appeared to be stolen but said investigators were looking at several aspects: whether the datasets were new or “just being recycled to make it look like they hacked our government." 

They are also reviewing whether the breaches involve personal information, as in the BIR and SEC cases, he added.

The CICC head said they stepped in because the incidents had risen to the level of cybercrime, and was working with other agencies to identify the people behind the groups.