Report: China hackers steal Palace, Phl military data

No current information compromised, says DICT

- By Alexis Romero

Cyber attacks have not compromised current data, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said yesterday, amid reports that China-based hackers have infiltrated the Philippines’ executive department and stolen sensitive information.

DICT Secretary Ivan Uy said his agency is repelling daily “several hundred thousand” attacks that target not just the executive branch but also the legislature.

“There are always attempts to do so and in many instances, for attacks like those, we’re able to detect them early on. And when we do so, we are able to secure the database, and we’re able to secure the systems so that it remains just an attempt and not be able to compromise some of the more sensitive data,” Uy said yesterday in a press briefing at Malacañang.

“I’d like to reiterate that so far, what we have seen is that no current information has been compromised. What we have seen so far are old data from many years ago that are being regurgitated, recycled just to make an impression that they were successful in doing so,” he stressed.

Earlier, Bloomberg reported that China state-sponsored hackers had penetrated the Philippines’ executive branch and had stolen “sensitive” data as part of a yearlong campaign.

According to Bloomberg, military data were among those stolen during the hacks, most of which happened from early 2023 to June 2024.

Uy said other countries also experience attacks or claimed attacks from different state or non-state actors as well as claims that there had been data breaches.

He called on the public to be more discriminating in entertaining claims that state agencies have been hacked.