NBI probe on alleged Comelec hacking underway

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 15) — The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has launched its own investigation on the reported hacking of the servers of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Saturday.

"Today, the NBI conducted a physical security inspection of the Comelec facilities in Laguna, together with representatives from Smartmatic and the Comelec," he told reporters.

Guevarra also said certain documents have also been turned over to the NBI for validation and authentication.

"A thorough investigation is now in progress," he added.

This, as the poll body sought the assistance of the NBI to probe the alleged data breach, Guevarra said.

A report from Manila Bulletin earlier this week revealed that a group of hackers was "able to breach the servers of the Comelec, downloading more than 60 gigabytes of data that could possibly affect the elections" last Jan. 8.

Among the files that were allegedly compromised include "usernames and PINS of vote-counting machines (VCM)," the report stated.

Comelec Chairman Sheriff Abas, however, dismissed the report as "fake news."

He stressed the reported incident did not happen, saying it is "quite impossible to hack non-existent information" as the poll body had yet to configure the data.