Comelec en banc vows to take action on security breach claims
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 23)— An official of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Wednesday vowed that the en banc is “taking action” on the recent allegations of security breach in the poll system.
“Re alleged data breach in Smartmatic, the en banc is taking action. Details cannot be revealed yet so as not to prejudice the ongoing NBI [National Bureau of Investigation] investigation,” Comelec commissioner George Garcia told reporters.
Garcia added that some poll officials will be “given directives” regarding the matter, but did not provide details.
Both Comelec and Smartmatic previously denied that such breach took place – contrary to the claim of Senator Imee Marcos last week.
Marcos, citing Facebook posts from a purported hackers' group, said the incident supposedly happened when Smartmatic's contractual worker took out an official laptop and leaked its contents.
RELATED: Imee Marcos' Smartmatic security breach claim sparks concerns, doubts among candidates
Earlier this year, Comelec also faced allegations of server hacking as reported by the Manila Bulletin — a claim the poll body has repeatedly refuted.
CNN Philippines' Melissa Lopez contributed to this report.
