'5,000 mobile identities harvested by China spy gear'

Over 5,000 sets of personal data from mobile numbers had been harvested by the spy devices seized from a Chinese national's vehicle parked outside the Commission on Elections (Comelec)'s main office in Intramuros, Manila last week, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said yesterday.

- By NEIL JAYSON SERVALLOS

Ferdinand Lavin, spokesman for the NBI, said the vehicle—which passed through sensitive areas including the Supreme Court, Department of Justice, Villamor Air Base, Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Comelec—would have enabled access to mobile subscriber identity.

While Lavin could not disclose what types of data had been harvested by the International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) catcher loaded in the vehicle, he said the NBI was already securing a warrant to examine the data stored in the device's computer.

"They picked up 5,000 mobile subscriber identities. They intercepted these from the various offices, even private citizens they passed by. Their range is 500 meters to three kilometers, so we can just imagine in highly populated areas especially in the metropolis, they have picked up so much and this is subject of our application for confirmation of warrant to examine computer data," Lavin said at the resumption yesterday of the Senate's inquiry into alleged Chinese espionage activities through submersible drones and hacking activities.

The NBI on April 29 arrested a Chinese national, identified as Tak Hoi Lao, outside the Comelec main office for alleged violations of the espionage law, Data Privacy Act and Cybercrime Prevention Act.

Authorities confiscated a suspected IMSI catcher from his vehicle—a surveillance device capable of mimicking cell towers to intercept calls, texts and track phone locations.

Lavin said the NBI has yet to ascertain whether the data harvested by the IMSI catcher had already been transmitted elsewhere, but assured the committee that it was fast-tracking the issuance of a warrant so that countermeasures can be set in place before the elections on Monday.