1SAMBAYAN Downplays App Security Vulnerability; Claims They Were Hacked

Last Saturday, 12 June 2021, MB Tech News Editor Art Samaniego wrote about “one big vulnerability in 1SAMBAYAN app.” Based on the report of an informant, personal data (like Apple ID, address, birth date, email address, Facebook ID, full name, Google ID, mobile number, password, profile picture, username, and profession) submitted by volunteers using the anti-Duterte coalition’s mobile app can be a subject of a breach due to inadequate security implementation.

In this morning’s interview of 1SAMBAYAN Convenor Atty. Howard Calleja over at Teleradyo’s On The Spot radio show, claims that they were hacked.

“Naintidihan natin na ‘yung kalaban natin hindi lang maraming resources, maraming pera, pero malaki po in the sense na lahat ng dirty politics ay gagawin. Habang kami ay nagpoprograma noong Sabado mga 4:30 PM, nalaman naming na ‘yung aming membership app ay na-hacked. We are reporting this matter to the National Privacy Commission at sa lahat ng mga ahensya ng gobyerno that covers itong mga online na ito para mabigyan ng pansin. Napag-aralan naming over Saturday and Sunday that it was a professional hack. We have our safeguards but obviously, it was a professional hack,” according to Atty. Calleja.

(“We understand that our opponent not only has a lot of resources, a lot of money, but they have a lot in the sense that all dirty politics will be done. Last Saturday at around 4:30 PM, while we were having a program, we found out that our membership app had been hacked. We are reporting this matter to the National Privacy Commission and all government agencies concerned. We learned over Saturday and Sunday that it was a professional hack. We have our safeguards but obviously, it was a professional hack.”)

Clearly, the 1SAMBAYAN representative doesn’t know the difference between a security vulnerability (or hole) and what hacking really is all about; or he could just be trying to cover up the lack of prudence from their side in having the mobile application tested for security holes before it was launched.

Atty. Calleja added that they decided to defer the launch of the accompanying 1SAMBAYAN Voting App (different from the membership app that has a serious security vulnerability) to next month.