The Philippine National Police stood tall in its statement that there was no hacking incident or breach in its database after over 1.2 million records of employees and applicants were leaked online.
In a statement issued Thursday, the PNP said the Anti-Cyber CrimeGroup was currently doing an internal investigation and assessment to determine possible violations.
“As an immediate response to the said report by the NPC, theAnti-Cyber Crime Group of the PNP is currently exerting efforts in fast-tracking its internal investigation to determine if there arepossible violations of provisions of Republic Act 10173 (Data Privacy Act of 2012),” PNP said in a statement.
“Likewise, the Directorate for Information and Communication Technology (DICTM) is conducting an assessment of the systems todetermine possible violations or lapses in protocols and procedures,” PNP added.
Last April 18, cybersecurity researcher Jeremiah Fowler reported through vpnmentor.com that more than 1.2 million private records or a total of 817.54 gigabytes consisting of birth certificates, transcripts of records, passports and other important documents were exposed.
The leaked records were from different government agencies like the PNP, National Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Special Action Force Operations, Management Division, and Civil Service Commission among others.
Department of Information and Communications Technology Secretary Ivan John Uy said on Tuesday that no personal data was stolen in the incident.
PNP backed Uy’s statement and said it was now working with DICT “to ensure the security, safety, and privacy of information in the custody of the PNP and will strictly comply with the provisions of the Data Privacy Act.”
