The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said it is investigating a data breach incident at the Bureau of Customs (BOC).
“DICT is helping BOC to contain the cybersecurity incident. I think the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) will investigate,” ICT Undersecretary Jeffrey Ian Dy said.
“The National Computer Emergency Response Team (NCERT) under DICT’s main task is to help BOC strengthen their Cyber posture and to ensure the incident is contained within the initial software and systems compromised,” he added.
Dy said the BOC’s reporting system and help desk ticketing systems were compromised.
The BOC reported that its external cloud-based online applications were breached using compromised user login credentials.
“The incident was immediately reported to the DICT and CICC. The bureau has also sought the expertise of the DICT and CICC to help the agency thoroughly investigate the incident,” it said.
Currently, the agency is still determining the total number of data subjects involved.
“Upon discovering the incident, we immediately initiated security protocols to contain and address the situation by locking all compromised accounts and servers. The IT team is working diligently to enhance our security measures and prevent future breaches,” BOC said.
“We understand the concern and inconvenience this may cause you. As a precautionary measure, we advise you to change the password of your login credentials and report any suspicious activity on your account,” it added.