House ICT panel urged to probe cyberattacks on gov't agencies

MANILA, Philippines — Several lawmakers are calling for the investigation into the cyberattacks on government agencies after their websites have suffered from breaches this month.

In a resolution filed by Rep. JC Abalos (4ps Party-list) and House Minority Leader Marcelino Libanan on October 17, the lawmakers urged the House Committee on Information, Communications, and Technology to probe the cyberattacks on the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), and the website of the House of Representatives and identify how it affects data of Filipino online users.

“These incidents highlight the threat to the security and integrity of the digital platforms of our agencies, emphasizing the necessity of implementing additional measures to prevent such occurrences,” Abalos said in a statement.

On October 15, the House of Representatives' website was breached with hackers defacing the website with an image of a "troll face." The HoR website was restored after 24 hours. 

However, on Tuesday, House announced that it voluntarily took the website offline after it "detected suspicious and unusual activities that necessitate further scrutiny."

READ: House of Representatives website hacked | House takes down website after detecting suspicious, unusual activities

Last week, PhilHealth reported that there was a data leak involving personal information, while the PSA said that it encountered a breach that is limited to the data collected by its Community-Based Monitoring System.

PhilHealth Data Privacy Officer Nerissa Santiago said that the Medusa Ransomware attack has compromised 13 million individual data.

Meanwhile, on Monday, House appropriations chairperson Rep. Elizaldy Co (AKO Bicol) stated that the lower chamber intends to collaborate with the Senate to investigate potential sources of additional funding to enhance the cybersecurity capabilities of the Department of Information and Communications Technology.

“For the continuing ransomware attacks, we convey to the Department of Budget and Management the urgent need for additional funds for the DICT and for government agencies being attacked and vulnerable to cyberattacks,” Co said. — with reports from Cristina Chi and Rosette Adel