Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 17) — The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) believes that the hacking incidents into other government websites and databases following the cyber attack on the state health insurer are not a coincidence.
DICT Undersecretary Jeffrey Dy said local hackers could be behind the recent cyberattacks into other offices.
\”But when we are talking about the recent spate of hackings after PhilHealth, we believe them to be local hackers, and we believe them not to be a coincidence,\” he told the Senate Committee on Science and Technology on Tuesday.
The personal data stolen by Medusa hackers from the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation were released into the dark web early this month after the government failed to pay $300,000 (roughly ₱17 million) in ransom money.
Other government offices such as the Department of Science and Technology, the Philippine Statistics Authority, the Philippine National Police, and the House of Representatives also suffered from cybersecurity breaches.
But PhilHealth chief Emmanuel Ledesma Jr. said their external services are back at 100% since the past weekend, while they are expecting their internal services to be back to normal this week.
Senator Alan Peter Cayetano stressed that confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) could be used by agencies dealing with security.
Although the lower chamber denied the request of some departments, including the DICT, for a CIF in their 2024 budget, Cayetano cited that such a fund could be used to hire black-hat hackers.
\”I’m not lobbying for you, I’m just saying that there are certain agencies na klarong-klaro kung saan kailangan at mayroong hindi. And ang klarong-klarong kailangan when you have to do with security,\” he said.
