A resolution was filed in the Senate on Tuesday seeking an inquiry over the recent cyber attack incidents against the government agencies in the country.
The filing of Senate Resolution 811 by Senator Mark Villar stemmed from the recent hacking of the "Medusa ransomware" group of the state health insurer Philippine Health Insurance Corporation or PhilHealth's online portal.
The hackers have asked $300,000 or roughly P17 million in exchange for the stolen data for PhilHealth.
It also threatened the government that it would publicly expose the entirety of the hacked PhilHealth data if the ransom was not paid.
Villar said the threat would compromise the confidential information of Filipinos, including names, addresses, contact information, medical records as well as internal memorandums of the agency.
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Ransomware is a kind of malicious software that encrypts files in a device or system with access to a computer that is being blocked by hackers. To regain access to the hacked site, cybercriminals demand a ransom.
Villar condemned the cyber attack incident against the PhilHealth, saying: "It is not only a huge case of information theft but an extensive attack against public health and welfare."
"These attacks compromise the medical information of the members of PhilHealth," he added.
The resolution targets to tackle the increasing number of cyber attacks, not only with PhilHealth's case but also the cases of other government agencies that were subjected to hacking.
"It is high time that we strengthen our cyberspace security as we are dealing with private and delicate information that could endanger, not just of one institution, but of the general Filipino public," Villar stressed.
"The regulation of cyberspace is timely and relevant, considering the increasing cases of cyber attacks on government agencies and the cases of online fraud against consumers," he added.
Earlier this week, PhilHealth said it would not pay the ransom and it has shut down its online systems "to assess the impact of the cyberattack." Philhealth also opted for manual processing of the member benefits following the hacking incident.
Meanwhile, the Department of Information and Communications Technology said the cyber hackers already uploaded some PhilHealth information and documents to the dark web, with a countdown of days before the state insurer should pay ransom.
DICT clarified the PhilHealth database was not compromised.
