Senator Imee Marcos announced on Thursday that Smartmatic, the poll technology vendor for the automated elections in May 2022, had suffered a security compromise.
Senator Marcos, who chairs the Committee on Electoral Reforms and People’s Participation, said during a press conference following their second hearing on different matters regarding the Commission on Elections, “There indeed was a security breach in the Smartmatic operation that appears to be clear,” (Comelec).
“While it is being investigated further by the NBI, the CICC (Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center), the National Privacy Commission and other groups, we have to admit that a very serious breach occurred, it may not be hacking, technically, but we feel that it compromises the processes and operations of Smartmatic in very serious ways,” she said.
Marcos alleged that a syndicate group hacked Smartmatic’s data, including personal information, ledgers, images of their office, and Comelec contact individuals.
“Andoon lahat sa Facebook eh, nakakapagtaka eh. Kaya medyo kinakabahan tayo to that degree, the depth and breadth of the data that has been released, that is still publicly available as far as I know. Nandoon nakita ko, and we may be involved with a criminals’ hacking syndicate, yang XFOS “she stated
(It’s all on Facebook and it’s fascinating.) We’re concerned to that extent because of the depth and breadth of the material that has been exposed, which, as far as I know, is still publicly available. We could be associated with the XFOS, a criminal hacking syndicate, according to what I witnessed.)
“Mayroong empleyado ang Smartmatic na nilabas ‘yung laptop niya at hinayaang well, not hacked, but hinayaang makopya ng a certain group. I think that is as far as we can go,” Senator Vicente Sotto III, who was present at the session, made the announcement.
(A Smartmatic employee took his laptop out and enabled his files to be copied by a specific group, rather than being hacked.)
“‘Yung mga sinasabi ko, mga luma na raw ‘yon, 2016, pero hindi natin alam. May ballot face ng 2022 pero sinasabi nila naka website naman daw ‘yan. Pero ganoon pa man masyadong personal ‘yung ibang detalye. Nakakanerbyos. Pati ‘yung mga flowchart, ‘yung mga processes ng Smartmatic. May mga password, userword, sabi nila bulok na at non-usable, “Marcos went on to say.
(They claim the data is from 2016, but we have no way of knowing.) They say it’s on the internet, but there are ballot faces for 2022. Other details, on the other hand, are still quite personal. It makes me feel uneasy. Even the Smartmatic processes and flow charts. There are passwords and userwords, which they claim have expired and are no longer usable.)
“But nevertheless, the wealth of detail and the depth of knowledge is a little bit alarming,” she remarked.
Source: GMA News