The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) clarified on Thursday, April 4, that two terabytes (TB) worth of data were stolen in the latest cyberattack incident on the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) servers.
This was much lower than the previous report of 25TB.
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2024/4/3/hackers-strike-department-of-science-and-technology-servers
“What we discovered and what we are looking at is around two terabytes, 25 terabytes is a bit embellished,” DICT Assistant Secretary Renato Paraiso said in an online press conference.
"I would understand mostly why people would say that, they would try to exaggerate their (hackers’) claims," he added in a mix of English and Filipino.
Paraiso pointed out that the "exaggerated" number is to really make the public believe the claims of the threat actors.
"But right now, we can say that we are looking at around just two terabytes of storage that were compromised," he reiterated.
However, Paraiso emphasized that the agency is not ruling out the possibility that the attack may involve a larger volume of data than what they are currently investigating.
On April 3, the agency confirmed the hacking of the DOST website, where threat actors introduced themselves as "Ph1ns."
The hackers left a message on the DOST website, saying: "This Site is Seized by the Filipino People!"
"Political dynasties and their oligarch allies do not represent the interests of the 99 percent of Filipino people," it said.
“These crooks that continue to manipulate us by keeping their personal and petty interests the standard of politics to get hold of the public funds (our money) straight to their pockets is an insult to many of us whose families are already starving and surviving daily without any social benefits,” the hackers added.
They added: “We are tired of receiving alms and 'Utang na Loob' (debt of gratitude) from these politicians who favor their oligarch allies over us."
Meanwhile in a statement on April 3, the DOST vowed to treat the hacking incident with “utmost seriousness.”
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2024/4/3/dost-vows-to-address-hacking-incident