House Secretary General Reginald Velasco (Contributed photo)

Suffice it fo say that the House of Representatives doesn't have a fortress-like cybersecurity set-up.

House Secretary General Reginald Velasco candidly shared to reporters on Monday, Oct. 16 that the House of Representatives' cybersecurity protection was comparable to that of a "shanty". 

The House's website was compromised by outside elements on Sunday, Oct. 15, leading to its defacement. As a result, the legislative chamber sought help from various agencies, including the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT). 

"Ang recommendation ng DICT (What the DICT is recommending is that), we have to update not only the contract [of our cybersecurity license], not only with the supplies, but the equipment itself," Velasco said. 

"May nag-describe sa akin, parang barong-barong yung cybersecurity measures natin compared to other agencies na bahay sa corinthians (Somebody described it to me like this, our cybersecurity measures are like a shanty compared to other agencies that have homes in the corinthians)," he said. 

In short, the House has poor cybersecurity protection. But this can be easily remedied with the right equipment and people. 

"Pag DICT sinabi ang dami nyong vulnerability...yung equipment niyo kulang. Yung tao niyo kulang. So pwede kayong ma-attack talaga ng most serious, more serious hacking," Velasco said. 

(If the DICT says you have a lot of vulnerability...you lack the equipment. You lack the personnel. So you really can get attacked with the most serious, more serious hacking.) 

Velasco noted that Sunday's incident could only be a test run of sorts. 

"Ito kasi ang tingin namin parang ano, testing lang eh. Testing lang our vulnerability. So ang sinabi namin sa IT (Information Technology) group namin, prepare for the worst case scenario na yun, iha-hack talaga yung buong system namin, not just hacking, but immobilize no. Just like what happened to other agencies in the US (United States)," he said. 

(What we think is, it was just a test. They were just testing our vulnerability. So what we told our IT group was, prepare for that worst case scenario when they not just hack your entire system, but immobilize it.)