Converge hit by security breach

MANILA, Philippines (Update 1, 12:54 p.m.) — Internet service provider Converge ICT Solutions Inc. has reported that it was hit by a security breach, although it said that it has “no evidence” that personal information of its subscribers have been misused.

In an email to a subscriber seen by Philstar.com, Converge said personal information which may include birthdate, full name, maiden name of their mother, mobile number, email, service address, province and municipality registered in its system were involved in a security breach in the customer dashboard of its GoFiber application, which customers can use to pay their bills and monitor their internet usage.

The listed ISP said it confirmed the breach on March 4 and is continuing to “analyze the data being provided.” The National Privacy Commission told Philstar.com that the company reported the incident on the same day and is now under evaluation by its compliance and monitoring team.

“Since the discovery of this event, we, together with our accredited third-party developer, have implemented additional validation in the system to address the security breach and to strengthen the GoFiber app security. By doing so, users of the GoFiber app are assured that only they can retrieve account information linked to their registered account,” the ISP said.

It continued, “We wish to assure you that the personal information of our customers are always protected with confidentiality, security measures are in place, and your passwords remain intact and secure.”

Converge did not mention how many subscribers were affected by the breach, but it said in a statement sent to journalists that "this is an isolated incident and a small portion of our customer base was affected." The company recommended that those affected should not provide personal or financial information to anyone who may contact them using their personal information claiming to be a representative of Converge.

"We sincerely apologize to our customers who were affected by this incident and the concern that this may have caused the public," Converge said.

Converge saw a boom in customers throughout the pandemic as Filipinos started working from home. It said that as of the end of 2020, its domestic network spanned over 55,000 kilometers, covering 300 cities and municipalities across Luzon and reaching around 6.1 million homes.