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PCSO says Facebook page hacking unconnected to lottery game

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Johnson Manabat, ABS-CBN News

MANILA — The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) assured the public on Wednesday that the alleged hacking of its official Facebook Page had nothing to do with the lottery game of the agency. PCSO General Manager Melquiades “Mel” Robles told ABS-CBN News that they have a separate system for the lottery and that their operation was not affected by the hacking incident.Hackers posted obscene photos on PCSO’s Facebook page on Monday morning. The agency regained control of its social media account through the help of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT). <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/12/05/23/naked-womens-photos-appear-on-pcsos-facebook-page">Naked women&#x27;s photos appear on PCSO&#x27;s Facebook page</a></li></ul>&quot;It has nothing to do with our game,&quot; Robles said. He added that PCSO recorded P134 million in sales, its highest in a day since October, after the hacking. &quot;In short, hindi naman naapektuhan yung mga tao dun sa incident na yun,” the official said. &quot;It came at a time na maraming tumataya kahapon. Pero it&#x27;s an indication that the people were not bothered by it kasi in fairness kasi yung Philippine lottery namin is a different system, hindi naman yan konektado sa social media accounts, so wala namang nanyari doon,” he added.Robles said PCSO&#x27;s Facebook page &quot;does not contain any sensitive [information].&quot; &quot;Everything in that page is really for public consumption. First time ito nangyari dito,” he said. The PCSO wants to learn from this experience to avoid a similar incident, Robles said. “We are continuously investigating this kasi it&#x27;s important also to secure our social media accounts para one, we give the right information, mahirap ‘pag may spread ng disinformation. Two, para hindi na maulit ito, this is very dangerous baka may magpalaganap ng kung anong balita, hindi naman kami ang may gawa,&quot; the official said. &quot;Mabuti nga at ganito lang, it has nothing to do with the games pero we really have to get to the bottom of this. We have to learn from this,” he added. <div>INTERNAL PROBE</div>DICT Assistant Secretary Renato Aboy Paraiso said the incident was likely confined to PCSO&#x27;s social media page, which is independent from its other systems. &quot;We&#x27;re constantly coordinating and cooperating with the PCSO since yesterday. Initially ang nakikita natin ang na-compromise lang ay ang social media page nila, especially their Facebook page which they voluntary took down,&quot; he said.The PCSO said it was conducting an internal investigation to determine if this was an inside job or not. “Definitely we are investigating it, we want to learn from this. We want to know kami ba ang at fault dito at kung kami ano yun and how do we avoid that sa susunod,” said Robles. “You can check our page now, wala na pong malaswa roon. Salamat sa DICT, sa kanilang effort that we were able to get back in the last 24 hours,” he said. The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) is also looking into the incident. &quot;I think may napadala na po yung Executive Director namin [na team]...sa PCSO,&quot; CICC Officer-in-Charge Rojun Hosillos said during Kapihan sa Manila Bay session. Several major agencies, including PhilHealth and the Philippine Statistics Authority, have suffered from cyber attacks in recent months. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/12/04/23/govt-private-sector-eye-unified-approach-to-cyberattacks">Gov&#x27;t, private sector eye &#x27;unified&#x27; approach to cyberattacks</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/08/18/23/cyberattacks-can-remain-undetected-for-a-month-expert">Cyberattacks can remain undetected for a month, says expert</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/09/19/23/ph-needs-180000-cybersecurity-professionals-group">PH needs 180,000 cybersecurity professionals: group</a></li></ul>Meanwhile, for Thursday’s 6/49 and 6/58 lotto games, around P200 million is at stake and this could increase more before the draw itself, Robles said. “Yung aming 6/49 its about P238 million ang huli kong check, and 6/58 is about P200 [million] plus or a little bit lower,” Robles said.<div>— With a report from Izzy Lee, ABS-CBN News</div>

The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center is investigating the hacking of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office's Facebook page.

PCSO says Facebook page hacking unconnected to lottery game

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PCSO says Facebook page hacking unconnected to lottery game

Johnson Manabat,

ABS-CBN News

Published December 06, 2023 04:25 PM PHT

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Updated December 06, 2023 05:40 PM PHT

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