As the whole world moves to a new digital era, several organizations fell victim to the threat posed by hackers. Even government offices in the Philippines failed to fend off several cyberattacks in 2023 and brought to light some issues in cybersecurity.

PHILHEALTH

Last September, the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation confirmed that the agency fell victim to the Medusa ransomware. Per reports, the hackers asked for a ransom of US$ 300,000, or more than Php 17 million, to delete the data that they obtained from the agency.

In response to the cyberattack, PhilHealth temporarily shut down the website of the state-owned health insurance fund. The website and online portal of PhilHealth resumed operations on September 29.

Initially, PhilHealth reported that the cyberattack affected only 72 workstations, and denied that that the incident leaked the data of any member.

However, on October 2, PhilHealth announced that the attack compromised the data of several members, including name, address, birthday, sex, contact number, and PhilHealth identification number.

PhilHealth data privacy officer Nerissa Santiago said that the incident affected the data of around 13 to 20 million individuals.

PSA

The Philippine Statistics Authority also suffered from a data breach.

In a statement on October 11, the PSA confirmed the hacking incident and assured that the agency conducted preventive and containment measures, including shutting down and isolating the affected system.

PSA assured that the cyberattack did not expose data in the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys), and the Civil Registration System.

“From the initial assessment, the system allegedly affected is limited to the Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS). The PSA is assessing what personal data from the CBMS may have been compromised and will share information with the relevant authorities and the public in due course,” PSA said in the statement.

The House of Representatives

Aside from government agencies in the Executive Branch, hackers also targeted the Legislative Branch of the government. A hacker, who used the alias 3MUSKETEERZ, managed to deface the official website of the House of Representatives on October 15 by posting a troll face picture with the words ‘You've been hacked’. The website went down after the incident.

In a statement, House Secretary General Reginal Velasco assured that immediate steps have been taken to address the issue. Velasco added that the Lower House coordinates with the Department of Information and Communications Technology, and the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center to investigate the incident.

“While we work to restore the website fully, we ask for patience and understanding. We are committed to ensure the security and integrity of our digital platforms, and we will implement additional measures to prevent such incidents in the future,” Velasco said in a statement.

The public can once again access the website on the afternoon of October 16. However, less than 24 hours after going online, the website of the Lower went down anew. Velasco said that they have detected ‘suspicious and unusual activities that necessitate further scrutiny’.

"The action has been taken as a precautionary measure to double-check and reinforce the cybersecurity measures we have undertaken, ensuring no vulnerabilities remain. Our primary concern is to guarantee the safety, integrity, and reliability of our digital platform for the citizens we serve,” Velasco said in a statement.

The website resumed operations on October 18.

Senate Secretary General Renato Bantug Jr. also confirmed that the official of the Upper House of Congress experienced ‘a spike in attacks’ during the same day that a hacker defaced the website of the Lower House. Bantug assured that none of the attempts succeeded.

PNP, NBI

Prior to the hacking incidents experienced by the PhilHealth, PSA, and the House of Representatives, cybersecurity research firm VPNMentor reported that the Philippine National Police and other law enforcement agencies experienced a data breach.

In a post dated April 18, the breach exposed information regarding employees and applicants of the PNP. The leaked information includes digital copies of birth certificates, educational record transcripts, diplomas, tax filing records, passports, and police identification cards.

VPNMentor said that the breach also leaked certifications of the justice department, local or regional court records, and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) identification and clearance documents.