THE National Bureau of Investigation has arrested three hackers involved in a cybersecurity breach at the Philippine Navy and the New Era University.
NBI Director Jaime Santiago said the three, who are allegedly members of the cyberhacking group Blood Sec International, were arrested in separate operations in Metro Manila and Cagayan de Oro last July 16.
Santiago identified two of the alleged hackers as Anikin Luke Abales and Daniel Xavier Valdez but refused to name the third suspect, reportedly a Philippine Navy officer, so as not to jeopardize the ongoing investigation.
Abales was charged with violating the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 and the Data Privacy Act for allegedly hacking the Navy’s cybersystem while Valdez faced the same charges after supposedly hacking the system of New Era University.
“Isang grupo sila. They are the original hackers in 2016 of the Comelec hacking incident,” Santiago said in a press conference at the NBI headquarters in Quezon City where the three were presented.
The NBI chief said Valdez admitted during initial interrogation that he was the group’s leader.
The operations that led to their arrest stemmed from an earlier operation by the NBI in Tagaytay City last July 8.
Santiago said they were able to retrieve from one of the hackers arrested in Tagaytay a file that contained code-protected and sensitive information from the database of the Navy.
NBI Cybercrime Division Chief Jeremy Lotoc said they learned from the file that one of the hackers is a Navy officer.
“During our controlled viewing (of the data) and browsing of his cellular phone, we were able to identify the members of Blood Sec International hackers,” Lotoc said.
The cellular phone from the arrested suspect, Lotoc said, is equipped with a directory scanner that allows the user to scan files and other information in the system of the Navy.
It was also found the Navy officer was also in constant communication with a person who later turned out to be Valdez.
Valdez was arrested in Cubao, Quezon City after a brief motorcycle chase. Follow-up operations led to the arrest of Abales in Cagayan de Oro.
Lotoc said Abales’ participation in the hacking included his possession of the access codes.
Lotoc said they anticipate more arrests in the coming days, adding their investigations are ongoing.
During the briefing, Navy spokesperson Commander John Percie Alcos assured the public that the suspected hackers accessed open-source information already publicly made available during regular press conferences of the Armed Forces.
Alcos said no sensitive information that could put at risk Navy personnel or jeopardize the country’s national security has been compromised.
“The data they got is mostly open sources. When I say open sources, this is information collated from TV, print and radio. And then these are disseminated to the senior leadership of the Navy so they no longer need to read the papers,” he explained.
