Glitch hits Viber; hacker warning out

MANILA, Philippines — The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) issued a public alert after glitches were discovered in messaging platform Viber, resulting in failed attempts to send video and file transfers among users.

The CICC’s recently established Consumer Application Monitoring System (CAMS) detected the glitch yesterday.

“We have detected continuous failed attempts to send video and file transfers using the Viber system in multiple cities covered by the CAMS platform both domestically and internationally since 10 a.m. today while messaging and voice calls have been successful,” the advisory stated.

“CAMS is working well in detecting problems and in protecting consumers from cybercriminals,” said CICC executive director Alexander Ramos.

“We cannot be certain at this point in time what is happening on Viber, but we are currently requesting information from Rakuten,” CICC deputy executive director Mary Rose Magsaysay told The STAR.

Refund

The House of Representatives has approved on third and final reading a bill institutionalizing refund mechanisms for telecommunications service outages.

With 278 votes, the lower chamber passed House Bill 9021 or the “Refund for Internet and Telecommunications Services Outages and Disruptions Act” during the plenary session yesterday.

Public telecommunications entities (PTE), including internet service providers (ISP), shall be mandated to “provide a refund credit to a customer, or adjust a customer’s bill, who was adversely affected by an Internet service outage or interruption for an aggregate period of 24 hours or more, within a month.”

The measure also requires PTEs to do so on a “pro-rated basis.”

A refund is not warranted if the reason for the outage is scheduled maintenance, but consumers should be notified 48 hours prior.

The accumulated service disruption should not exceed 48 hours in a month whether due to “a fortuitous event or acts of third party or subscriber.”

A fortuitous event pertains to the “act of God” or natural occurrences and an “act of man” such as cyberattacks and deliberate or accidental damage to telecommunications facilities by third parties, among others.

PTEs and ISPs concerned shall apply a bill adjustment, “automatically, without need of demand from the subscriber, after a standard process but shall not preclude the consumer from filing a complaint to the appropriate administrative or quasi-judicial agency for disputes regarding refund or bill adjustment amount.”

Refund credit should also be granted to customers who are subscribing to a service on a pre-paid basis.

“A stable internet is tantamount to a basic human right nowadays given its many applications that make life easier,” said House Speaker Martin Romualdez. – Sheila Crisostomo