The Department of Information and Communications Technology on Friday said it is investigating the data breach incident at the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Renato Paraiso, DICT spokesperson, said the agency’s cybersecurity bureau, the National Computer Emergency Response Team (NCERT), has collected relevant logs from the PSA for a thorough analysis and determination of the extent of the data breach, and whether personal identifiable information may have been compromised.
From the initial assessment, Paraiso said the system breach is limited to the community-based monitoring system.
“The DICT confirms that the incident at PSA was not a ransomware attack and that it is pursuing pertinent actions to apprehend the threat actor responsible for the data leak,” Paraiso said.
“As the DICT conducts its investigation of the logs obtained from PSA, the Department urges the public to refrain from sharing posts that contain links to the alleged PSA data samples,” he added.
Paraiso sad the public is warned that those who click the links could risk introducing malware to their devices. Those found guilty of sharing leaked data face penalties under the Data Privacy Act of 2012.
“Further, we urge the public to implement cyber hygiene practices and remain vigilant against phishing and scam attempts,” he said.
Paraiso said the DICT reaffirms its willingness to extend support and provide technical assistance and advice to government agencies in addressing their cybersecurity challenges in the hope the agencies would implement the recommendations forwarded by the DICT.
“We would like to stress that individual government agencies still bear the principal responsibility of ensuring the protection and security of their computer systems, infrastructure, and sensitive data entrusted to them by the public,” he said.
