MANILA — The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Friday assured the public that it would be transparent and proactive amid the reported data breach in its systen.

Government agencies and cybercrime units are already investigating how their Community-Based Monitoring System (CMBS) was hacked, the PSA said.

• PSA says National IDs, civil registry not affected by alleged data breach
• PSA hack not similar to ransomware attack on PhilHealth: official

According to the PSA website, CBMS is used as a basis for poverty alleviation programs.

"Based on the investigation, the links posted by the bad actors lead to limited data taken from the CBMS Management Information System. The PSA and aforementioned partners are working tirelessly to prevent the further disclosure of data," the statement read.

"Intensified security protocols were then established to deter any further attacks on all other systems PSA manages. The data in question was not removed from the system and PSA has backup copies," it added.

The agency noted that data in the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys), the Civil Registry System, and over a hundred censuses and surveys that the agency conducts "are unaffected."

It also said it immediately activated the agency's Data Breach Response Team when they discovered the data breach. The PSA shut down its servers and networks connected to the system to "isolate the infiltration."

"Amid the recent string of cyberattacks against government agencies and private institutions, the agency is also continuously working with the DICT and NPC to enact stronger data protection measures to be implemented across all government agencies."

Information and Communications Technology Undersecretary Jeffrey Ian Dy has said the PSA breach was "not as sophisticated" as the Medusa ransomware attack that infected the systems of state insurer PhilHealth in late September.

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