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Manila Bulletin devider Technews devider DICT asked to probe massive data breach of police personnel records; NBI records may also be at risk

DICT asked to probe massive data breach of police personnel records; NBI records may also be at risk

Published Apr 28, 2023 01:59 am
The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) has been asked to probe the massive data breach belonging to law enforcement agencies including sensitive police personnel information as disclosed by a report of leading international research company VPNMentor on April 18, 2023. The compromised database, with a file size of 817.54 gigabytes, contains the personal identifiable information (PII) of employees and applicants of PNP including fingerprint scans, signatures, and required documents from other government agencies including the PNP itself, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), the Special Action Force Operations Management Division, the Civil Service Commission, among others. Fowler went even as far as showing in his report samples of scanned and photographed images of original documents that he stumbled upon including birth certificates, transcript of records, diplomas, tax filing records, passport, and police identification cards. Also exposed were records certifying that there are no pending cases or criminal history for each police personnel including certification from the Department of Justice (DOJ), local or regional court records, and the NBI identification and clearance documents. In his radio program ‘Dos for Dos” with Gerry Baja over at DZRH,  Anthony ‘Ka Tunying’ Tabernas on April 20, 2023 has raised serious concerns on other government offices on the manner they store and protect their data, particularly with the NBI.  Ka Tunying challenged the DICT officials to conduct an objective probe on the massive data breach. He specifically chided DICT Undersecretary for E-government David L. Almirol, Jr. who was a former top brass of Multisys Technologies Corporation, which Ka Tunying said, is a contractor of the NBI and other government agencies including the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).  “How can USEC Almirol initiate an investigation on the massive data breach if his previous company is possibly responsible for the protection of the data that was exposed?” Ka Tunying asked.  Exposing PIIs belonging to police and members of law enforcement or other officials can be dangerous as they could be potential victims of identity theft, phishing attacks, and a range of other malicious activities. The exposed records could also potentially allow criminals to target members of law enforcement for blackmail or other schemes, or worst, even liquidation. The Philippines, through the National Privacy Commission (NPC), is subscribing and enforcing protocols defined under the general data protection regulation where an individual’s private data or PII must be protected at all times and can only be shared or disclosed strictly for national security purposes.  Fowler’s report did not indicate whether the compromised records of the PNP were stored outside or inside of the Philippines.
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