Claimed gov’t cyber breaches under scrutiny

Online reports of alleged cybersecurity breaches involving government agencies to determine whether personal information had been compromised are being investigated.

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla on Tuesday confirmed the military was verifying the reports and checking the circumstances surrounding the alleged incidents.

“These reports are stated online, so we do not normally react to online statements. We verify them. We conduct our internal investigation accordingly. At this point, these are mere speculations,” Padilla said at a press briefing Tuesday.

She said the AFP Cyber Command and cybersecurity units of the military’s service branches were conducting checks and would carry out forensic investigations if necessary.

Padilla said the AFP routinely monitors thousands of attempted cyberattacks, including those targeting government and financial institutions.

“What is important is that we are able to deter these attacks,” she said, adding that the military had safeguards in place to protect its systems.

Philippine Air Force spokesperson Col. Alvin Jay Capinguian said the service had also checked the allegations and elevated its findings to the AFP Cyber Command.

The Air Force’s 950th Cyber Wing is coordinating with the command to verify the reports, he said. Padilla said the AFP would provide updates once its technical units completed their assessments.

The National Privacy Commission earlier said it was aware of reports concerning the alleged cyberattacks but had not received personal data breach notifications from the government agencies concerned.

The reports of alleged data leaks were first made public on 5 November.