Gov’t body probes JG Summit cyber attack

The National Privacy Commission is investigating a ransomware attack on the Gokongwei-led JG Summit Holdings that compromised 300 gigabytes of its data.

“We are waiting for verification from the Compliance Monitoring Division if there’s a notification (from the company),” the NPC communications team said in a Viber message.

Cybersecurity group Deep Web Konek on Thursday posted on its Meta (Facebook) account that JG Summit Holdings, one of the largest conglomerates in the Philippines, has been struck by a ransomware attack by the cybercriminal group RansomHub.

“The attack has led to the encryption of data on more than 40,000 computers within the company's network,” it said.

In terms of RansomHub's threats, it said that JG Summit suffered “further encryption, data shredding, and secure delete functions if demands are not met.”

Cyber blackmail

“RansomHub's public statement indicates frustration over being ignored by JG Summit, warning of additional attacks if their demands aren't addressed,” it said.

JG Summit is a notable player in various sectors, including air transportation, banking, food manufacturing, hotels, petrochemicals, power generation, publishing, real estate, property development, and telecommunications, with reported revenue of $6 billion, the group stated in its 8 August post.

In its statement, JG Summit said it is aware of circulating reports of a possible cybersecurity attack.

“We are working closely with our cybersecurity experts and partners to proactively investigate and assess the situation.”

Further, the company stated that it had activated all response protocols and implemented enhanced security measures to ensure data protection,” adding that its business operations continue as normal.

“We take this matter very seriously. We recognize that many organizations have faced similar challenges in the current cybersecurity landscape.”