Comelec spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco (INQUIRER/LYN RILLON)
MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Thursday said that it is planning its next move regarding an against the article that reported a breach in the poll body’s servers, as well as the former Smartmatic employee implicated in the automated elections technology provider security breach.
“Kami po ay makikipagugnayan sa Department of Justice sa pa-gaaral kung talaga pong mapupursue namin itong kaso na ito, at lalo pa po kami makiki-cooperate sa NPC,” said Comelec spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco in an interview on TeleraRadyo’s Sakto.
(We are in contact with the Department of Justice to find out if we can really pursue this case and we will further cooperate with the NPC.)
The National Privacy Commission (NPC), in a decision dated Sept. 22 determined that there was no apparent breach in Comelec’s servers, and that the security breach in Smartmatic, “did not involve sensitive personal information or information that may be used to enable identity fraud.”
“Ang Comelec din po ay inaaral din ito kasi pinaratangan po ang Comelec na hindi maganda pati rin po ‘yung artikulo na walang verification na maayos,” he added.
(The Comelec is also studying this because of the accusations thrown against Comelec, as well as the article that had no proper verification.)
Laudiangco said the poll body will also consult its own legal department, as well as the Office of the Solicitor General to determine what they can do both against the publisher of the article and the former Smartmatic employee, Ricardo Argana, who allegedly allowed a group of hackers to copy election data from a company laptop.
“Ang malinaw po kasi dito, napatuyan po una na walang naganap na breach or hacking sa servers ng Comelec, ikalawa wala po kaming concealment hindi namin itinago, at agad naming nilabas,” said Laudiangco.
(What is clear here is that first it was proven that there was no breach or hacking of Comelec servers, secondly we had no concealment, we didn’t hide it, and we released it immediately.)
Breach, hacking impossible
Laudiangco in the same interview then insisted that it is impossible to hack Comelec’s servers due to the fact that it is not online, and is therefore a “standalone.”
“Hindi po ito online so imposible pong magkaroon ng breach o online hacking dito (it’s not online so it’s impossible to have a breach or online hacking here),” he explained.
Security within the server itself is also tight, added Laudiangco, explaining that not even him or Comelec commissioner George Garcia can enter the server’s premises without the necessary authorization.
Furthermore, Laudiangco said that Comelec is now in the process of “hardening” its technological systems, and is planning to create a cyber security division within the commission.
“Kaya po sinisiguro natin ang ating mga kababayan na ligtas po ang ating information at data lalong lalo na po patungkol sa halalan (that’s why we assure our countrymen that our information and data are safe, especially regarding the election),” said Laudiangco.
When asked if Smartmatic will remain as the Comelec’s automated elections technology provider, Laudiangco said that this will depend on whether or not Congress will allow the poll body to have the necessary budget to lease or buy a new system.
In case Comelec would be allowed to, Laudiangco said a competitive public bidding will be conducted for the procurement of the said service as provided for under the law.
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