Learn about the cybersecurity breach That happened in the Philippines. Moreover, let us know what important information we get from this.
What Is A Cybersecurity Breach That Happened In The Philippines?
A cybersecurity breach is a security incident that leads to a loss of information. Usually, the term breach refers to a computer system.
While the term intrusion refers to an unauthorized entry into a computer system. The Cybersecurity breach that happened in the Philippines is one of the most famous cybersecurity events in 2017.
In this incident, more than 1.3 million citizen data of registered voters in the Philippines were leaked online. The files were uploaded on the website Pastebin on May 17, 2017.
The leaks put online the names, addresses, and birth dates of 1,366,958 voters in the 2016 national and local elections. The website was run by anonymous hackers based in Russia and Ukraine.
Also, included several gigabytes of unlabeled data. That could be used to reconstruct the entire database of registered voters.
The information was released after members of Anonymous Philippines hacked. Into the database and leaked it online.
They also claimed that they have deleted all voter information from the website of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC). As a protest against alleged corruption.
Within the commission and lack of electoral reforms introduced by President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration. This incident was called one of the biggest data breaches in history.
This event resulted in several government officials resigning from their positions. At least three COMELEC employees were dismissed for negligence and for not following protocol.
For securing digital records and sensitive personal information belonging to Filipino citizens.
Why Do These Breaches Happen?
The main reason for this breach is the lack of proper security measures. So we have seen that the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) failed to protect its database.
And also the sensitive information of Filipino citizens. Do you know that this is not the first time that a breach like this happened?
In 2013, the same incident happened in the Philippines. The hacker group Anonymous Philippines hacked into the website.
And leaked online more than 70 gigabytes of data related to government contracts and private information related to politicians. One year later, in 2014, another hacker group called LulzSec Pilipinas hacked into several government websites.
And leaked their databases online. The data included 1.3 million personal records of supposed Filipino citizens.
They were released on Pastebin as well. According to a study published by security firm Kaspersky Labs, in 2017, there were 2,400 data breaches worldwide.
Of these incidents, more than 50% were caused by human error or negligence. And not all incidents are reported to authorities or even covered by the media.
How To Prevent A Cybersecurity Breach That Happened In The Philippines?
So to prevent a cybersecurity breach that happens in the Philippines. So you need to have good cybersecurity awareness training for your employees.
Also, your company must have a cybersecurity policy. This policy should include how employees should follow IT security best practices and guidelines.
They should also be aware of cyber threats and how they can protect themselves from them. Without compromising their privacy and safety online.
