DICT says eGov app ‘safe and sound’ amid attempted hacking

MANILA, Philippines —  The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT)’s eGov super app and e-LGU portal were not affected by the attempted hack on the promotional website set up for the app and portal.

Jeffrey Ian Dy, ICT undersecretary for infostructure management, cybersecurity and upskilling, stressed that the hack attempt on the e.gov.ph promotional website was not successful as the hackers were unable to breach defense of the site and taking control.

However, the ICT official said that the hackers were able to gain access to the website and upload an illegal file meant to infect it.

“What happened is that hackers uploaded an illegal file to the website and tried to run scripts to gain backdoor entry, but this was unsuccessful,” Dy explained in an interview with dzBB.

DICT is conducting further investigation into the attempted hack in coordination with the Philippine National Police and National Bureau of Investigation.

It was learned that a hacker group which calls itself the “Death Note Hackers” has claimed responsibility for the attempted breach.

“We can assure you, like what happened in earlier hack attacks in previous weeks (that) we will file the appropriate charges (against the culprits) and we will apprehend them,” Dy said.

Meanwhile, the Junk SIM Registration Network, a group of digital advocates and experts, said the proposed amendments to the SIM Registration Law will not address the rampant fraud and scams sent using mobile devices.

It noted that the proliferation of scams is not rooted in the ownership of SIM cards but in the access of scammers to personal and private information.

“The more information they have about us, the more likely they are to succeed in their scams,” the group said in a statement.

“Patching holes in the SIM Registration Law will only push scammers to find other means to continue their criminal activities. If lawmakers are truly adamant about eradicating scams, they should mandate stricter data security in both public and private institutions,” it added.

Citing the continued proliferation of scams, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian recently proposed amending the law and limiting the number of allowed SIMs that can be registered per user. He also recommended regulating marketing, promotional, political or fundraising using Short Message Service or texts.

The network suggests that it is better to repeal the SIM registration law and securely delete all existing databases of mobile users as it would further minimize the leakage of personal information of the people.

“Known propagators of scams and black markets of registered SIMs must immediately be held accountable,” said the network, adding that lawmakers should ensure that the general public is informed of the importance of data privacy.–  Janvic Mateo