A poll watchdog chided the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Monday after hacktivist group Anonymous Philippines defaced its website late Sunday evening, saying that the incident should be a reminder for Comelec officials to reflect on their “shortcomings.”
In a statement, Kontra Daya convenor and UP College of Mass Communication professor Danilo Arao said that the hacking incident has exposed the “security vulnerabilities” of the poll body.
“The hacking of the Comelec website is a timely Easter message for our election officials to repent for their shortcomings,” Arao said.
“The incident exposes the Comelec’s security vulnerabilities and puts into question the security features of the automated election system. What is the assurance that the elections will not be rigged to favor certain candidates?” he added.
The poll watchdog repeated its call for a more transparent Comelec, considering that the upcoming presidential and vice presidential elections are seen as tight races.
“It must implement the long-demanded minimum safeguards. As it stands now, the foreign-controlled AES cannot be relied on to accurately reflect the vote of the people,” Arao said.
On Sunday, the hacker group defaced the Comelec website, demanding that the poll body to fully implement the security features of the vote counting machines (VCMs).
LOOK: Comelec website hacked
“We request the implementation of the security features on the PCOS machines,” the group said.
The Supreme Court had first asked the Comelec to implement the voters’ verified paper audit trail or the VVPAT feature on the VCMs. Despite an appeal from the Comelec to do away with the VVPAT, the high court upheld its earlier decision. JE
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