Friday, March 29, 2024

Debunked hacking claim meant to cast doubt on Comelec, polls: solon

A party-list lawmaker has lambasted the discredited report of the Manila Bulletin that servers of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) have been hacked, saying this is intended to malign the integrity of the poll body and the upcoming automated elections.

BHW party-list representative Angelica Natasha Co

In a statement on Friday, Jan. 14, BHW party-list representative Angelica Natasha Co said the debunked Comelec hacking claim “is an attempt to cast seeds of doubt in the minds of the public on an IT matter that is beyond their understanding.”

“I trust the Comelec statement debunking the alleged hacking of Comelec information technology systems involving PINs of voting machines,” Co said.

She warned that the “latest attempt to form doubt on the automated elections would likely not be the last. Comelec should act fast whenever things like this come up.”

“Anti-truth campaigners are rampant everywhere. Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom and the defense and offense against anti-truth campaigners,” the minority lawmaker said.

This screenshot of two different banner headlines of Manila Bulletin shared by Technews editor Art Samaniego shows the newspaper was doubtful of the veracity of the story

Earlier, Agusan del Norte representative Lawrence Fortun said in a statement that the report was bogus as “[i]t appears now the alleged hacked files do not exist.”

“It is good to hear the Commission on Elections immediately coming out with an official statement debunking the alleged hacking of COMELEC IT systems involving PINs of voting machines. The timely response is imperative as silence on the part of the Commission will be perturbing and will only arouse suspicion of the public,” Fortun said.

The Comelec, in a statement immediately issued after the alleged breach incident, categorically denied there was a hacking incident. It also warned that it will exercise its legal options to go after the team who published the disputed story.

Similarly, Comelec commissioner Rowena Guanzon doubted the veracity of the article, saying the files mentioned are not yet online.

Observers have noted that in the US, a news outlet usually verifies the incident with the company or agency that was attacked and the vulnerability already patched before a hacking story is published. In the case of the Manila Bulletin, however, the technology editor responsible for the discredited story even posted on social media about a “big cyber security incident” three days prior to the publication.

Subscribe

- Advertisement -spot_img

RELEVANT STORIES

spot_img

LATEST

- Advertisement -spot_img