By Veronica Corral
The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said on Wednesday, April 27, the public can be assured of a secure presidential and vice presidential elections, noting that the Commission on Election (Comelec) has strengthened its election systems.
During the April 27 Palace briefing, DICT Undersecretary Cezar Mancao said the Comelec has full control of the election systems and data.
Meanwhile, amid the Smartmatic data breach issue, Mancao assured that it will be “impossible” for hackers to “leak and manipulate” the results.
“Ang Comelec ngayon ay talagang nag-learn na ng kanilang lesson noong mga nakaraang eleksyon at sila’y marami nang security firewalls sa sistema,” Mancao said.
“Maraming multi-level access na, marami ng susi kumbaga at maraming…several encryptions na in-implement kaya secure po ang ating eleksyon ngayon,” he added.
On Sunday, the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC), with the help of the Philippine National Police, arrested three suspects of the XSOX group, the hackers’ group allegedly behind the supposed data breach involving Smartmatic.
Mancao said that these people were “mere scammers” and advised the public not to fall for their scheme.
“Ito ay mga scammer lang. Kasi marami pong nagpanggap na ang resulta ng election ay ma-leak, magbago, o magbigay sila ng resulta na pabor sa politiko na magbabayad sa kanila,” he added.
The suspects are now detained at the Camp General Rafael T. Crame with charges of violating the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2010 particularly the System Interference, Illegal Access, and Attempt in the Commission of Cybercrime. – gb
