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DICT warns against opening files from PhilHealth ransomware attack
DICT warns against opening files from PhilHealth ransomware attack
By Sonny Daanoy
The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) on Monday, Oct. 9 issued a warning to the public advising them not to open or click on any files that contain data stolen from the ransomware attack on the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth).
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"A warning to our fellow citizens, please be cautious because the information itself is being used by these cybercriminals as bait when you click on it in order to enter your system," DICT Secretary Ivan John Uy said in a mix of Filipino and English on the sidelines of the Cybersecurity Month 2023 kick off celebration.
He said the leaked data may have malware-infected links.
The DICT chief expressed concern as the data is now published via Telegram and the Dark web.
"This is what the criminal organization used or made as bait supposedly for the curious ones," Uy said.
"Embedded there is the malicious software that can enter your computer once you download or click the link," he added.
However, he pointed out that hackers who attacked PhilHealth have nothing left to demand, as they had already published compromised data.
"Well, there's nothing for them to demand anymore because they have already released it," Uy said.
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Who are the hackers?
Uy believes the perpetrators of the ransomware attack are international hackers, saying, "I don't think the locals would have the audacity to do this because we can catch them; they are within our jurisdiction."
However, Uy conveyed his disappointment to other localities that "propagate" the situation.
"Ang nakakalungkot is, meron tayong mga kababayan dito, na imbis na tulungan ang Pilipinas, o tulungan ang gobyerno, upang matugis o at least ma minimize yung damage, yung nangyari dito, eh pinapalaki nila yung damage at sini-share pa at pino-propagate ito (what's saddening is that we have fellow countrymen here who, instead of helping the Philippines or the government to catch or at least minimize the damage, what happened here is that they're amplifying the damage and sharing it, propagating it)," he said.
PhilHealth system ‘outdated’
Uy also pointed out that the PhilHealth system is outdated and that "for some of them to transact data, the workstations must download information from the server."
He emphasized that the workstations may have been compromised, but that the system containing the members' data remained secure.
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https://mb.com.ph/2023/10/5/dict-assures-phil-health-members-data-not-hit-by-ransomware-attack
"But the workstations that are connected there and need to download information before they can transact with the public, yes, some of those have been compromised and may contain member information," he said.