IT contractor says probe shows source of system slowdown is within LTO
INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — The slowdown of the online licensing and registration system of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) may possibly be due to sabotage within the agency.
The LTO’s IT contractor Dermalog, citing initial findings of their investigation, noted that a “network issue” resulted in the slowdown of the Land Transportation Management Systems (LTMS). Dermalog even claimed their discovery has been confirmed by the Department Of Information And Communications Technology (DICT) in its own preliminary probe.
It also said it tracked high volume disruptions to computers within the LTO which likewise makes the system sluggish.
“Noong lumabas po ang problema sa pagbagal, nakipagugnayan po agad ang Dermalog sa LTO, para tuklasin at magbigay ng solusyon sa problema. In fact, we even reached out to the DICT [which] said na ang preliminary finding nila ay it is a network issue,” Dermalog spokesperson Atty. Nikki de Vega said in a press conference Tuesday in Quezon City.
(When the slowdown problem emerged, Dermalog immediately contacted the LTO to investigate and provide a solution to the problem. In fact, we even reached out to the DICT which said that their preliminary finding is that it is a network issue.)
She then clarified that the LTO’s network is not under Dermalog as it is under the full control of the agency.
“May natuklasan pa na mas nakakabahala. Based sa investigation ng LTO at Dermalog, natuklasan po namin na merong computer ng LTO, sa loob mismo ng LTO regional office, na pinanggagalingan ng high volume of traffic na nagco-cause ng slowdown sa network mismo ng LTO,” de Vega said.
(There is another discovery that is even more alarming. Based on the investigation of the LTO and Dermalog, there is an LTO computer, right inside an LTO regional office, that is the source of the high volume of traffic that causes a slowdown in the LTO network itself.)
LTO’s IT expert even confirmed that the computer was the source of malware, claimed De Vega.
When asked whether it was sabotage, de Vega said it was possible.
“Hindi ko categorically sasabihin ‘yan sapagkat gusto ko bigyan pagkakataon [mag-explain ang LTO] pero that is possible, pero wala pa akong konkretong ebidensya para sabihing may pagsasabotahe,” she said.
(I will not categorically say that because I want to give the LTO a chance [to explain] but that is possible, but I do not have yet concrete evidence to say that there is sabotage.)
Dermalog’s explanation came after LTO chief Teofilo Guadiz III claimed last Friday, September 2, that Dermalog was at fault for the slowdown of the LTMS. Guadiz also said LTO’s Management Information Division (MID) was already fixing the issue.
But de Vega insisted on their initial probe that shows several computers in LTO have caused the high volume disruptions which resulted in the slowdown of the LTMS.
“Hindi lang isa, maraming natukoy na computer po ng LTO ang nagco-cause ng high volume traffic sa network ng LTO. So ito po nagiging source ng pagbagal, ‘yung sinasabi nilang ‘offline’,” she said.
(Not just one, many LTO computers have been identified as the cause of the high volume traffic on the LTO network. So this is becoming the source of the slowdown, what they are saying as “offline.”)
“Araw-araw may bagong computer na naglalabas ng high volume disruption,” she also said.
(Every day there is a new computer that releases high volume disruption.)
De Vega likewise explained that the high volume disruptions clogged the LTMS data or network, slowing the system down due to overcapacity. She further said that it was determined after Dermalog coordinated with LTO’s MID and found logs traced to different computers within the LTO.
“Pero ongoing pa ang investigation, wala pa kami ituturo na nananadya, one thing for sure is accountability ito ng LTO dahil sa loob ito ng kaniyang opisina (But the investigation is still ongoing, we have not pointed out anything yet, one thing for sure is the accountability of the LTO because it is inside its office),” she said.
De Vega added that Dermalog is also coordinating with third party IT companies like Cisco to investigate the matter independently.
INQUIRER.net has reached out to the LTO for its comment on Dermalog’s pronouncements, but no response has been received as of this posting.
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