Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


              Hackers Expose Information on 55M Philippine Voters

   by VOA News

   A massive data breach has exposed 55 million Philippine voters to
   potential fraud and other risks after the entire database of the
   Commission on Elections (Comelec) was hacked and leaked.

   A group called Anonymous Philippines originally hacked and defaced the
   Comelec website March 27, calling on the government to ensure more
   security for voting machines to be used in the upcoming May 9 national
   elections.

   Later that same day, a group called LulzSec Pilipinas posted the entire
   database online.

   According to Trend Micro, an information technology security company,
   the data leak included fingerprints of more than 15.8 million voters,
   as well as passport numbers and expiration dates of 1.3 million voters
   residing overseas.

   The company claims in its blogpost on the incident that "this leak may
   turn out as the biggest government-related data breach in history,
   surpassing the Office of Personnel Management [OPM] hack last 2015 that
   leaked PII [personally identifiable information], including
   fingerprints and social security numbers of 20 million US citizens."

   It also exceeds the record-breaking hack of the Turkish citizenship
   database, which left 49 million people vulnerable to cybercrime and
   identity theft last week.

   A Comelec spokesperson reassured the public in March, stating "the
   database in our website is accessible to the public. There is no
   sensitive information there. We will be using a different website for
   the election, especially for results reporting, and that one we are
   protecting very well."

   But Trend Micro claims Comelec's initial response to the hack in
   late-March drastically downplayed its potential effects.

   Anonymous Philippines posted on the Comelec website: "But what happens
   when the electoral process is mired with questions and controversies?
   Can the government still guarantee that the sovereignty of the people
   is upheld?"
     __________________________________________________________________

   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/hackers-expose-information-millions-p
   hilippine-voters/3280046.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/hackers-expose-information-millions-philippine-voters/3280046.html