The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said Sunday there was no hacking that took place at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) warehouse in Laguna.
Representatives from the NBI and Comelec conducted a site inspection at the commission’s warehouse in Sta. Rosa, Laguna on Saturday amid reports of alleged hacking of data for the May 9 polls.
“We looked at the configuration and the testing area. We are convinced that it did not happen here. No hacking happened here,” NBI officer-in-charge Eric Distor said.
Distor made the statement four days days after Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon, who is retiring next month after a seven-year term, denied the systems of the poll body were breached, which allegedly compromised sensitive data as claimed by a Manila Bulletin report.
“FAKE NEWS: Comelec server was hacked, not true. Manila Bulletin editor must verify,” Guanzon said in a tweet.
On Monday, MB reported its Technews Team had verified information from an unnamed source about the supposed hacking that took place Saturday last week.
“[T]he hackers’ group managed to breach the system of the Comelec last Saturday, Jan. 8, 2022, and download files that included, among others, usernames and PINS of vote-counting machines (VCM),” the article read.
The article claimed hackers also took network diagrams, IP addresses, list of all privileged users, domain admin credentials, list of all passwords and domain policies, access to the ballot handling dashboard, and QR code captures of the bureau of canvassers with login and password.
Distor said the NBI would also conduct a digital forensic examination of several equipment.
“We have tasked our cybercrime division as well as the NCR (National Capital Region) and special project team to closely coordinate with the Comelec. We are closely coordinating with the proper authorities through their IT for any development,” Distor said.
Meanwhile, the poll body gave assurances its system was not linked to the internet or any other network that could expose it to hacking.
“The NBI checked our system, and it showed that it can stand alone. It is not connected to the internet or any network and our data is not yet generated so they cannot get anything here because we don’t have data generated yet here in Sta. Rosa,” Comelec Commissioner Marlon Casquejo said.
Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said on Monday the authors of the report had been invited to shed light on their information, “particularly with regard to the ‘verification’ they claim to have carried out.”
“With no independent verification that a hack has indeed taken place, one thing immediately stands out: the article alleges that the hackers were able to ‘download files that included, among others, usernames and PINS of vote-counting machines,” he said.
“The fact, however, is that such information still does not exist in Comelec systems simply because the configuration files – which includes usernames and PINs – have not yet been completed,” Jimenez said.
Comelec spokesman James Jimenez himself questioned the veracity of the report because it did not elaborate on the “verification” process it supposedly carried out to confirm the alleged hacking.
“We invite the authors to shed light on their allegations, particularly with regard to the ‘verification’ they claim to have carried out,” Jimenez said.