THE COMMISSION on Elections (Comelec) said on Saturday it would be launching a cybersecurity hotline where voters affected by a massive pre-election data breach could seek assistance.

The Voter Care Center hotline 5259301 will begin eight-hour operations on Aug. 22. The poll body’s education and information technology departments will assist in fielding calls from voters whose personal data were leaked online.

The Comelec said voters would be helped “by identifying the best course of action to protect their online security.”

Requirements for verification

For verification, callers will be required to provide their name, birth date, address, contact number and e-mail address.

The Comelec added that reports on possible online security breach and identity theft may be mailed to [email protected], with the voter’s personal information.

Last March, the hacker group Anonymous Philippines defaced the Comelec website and stole the personal data of some 54 million registered voters.

The data breach was discovered more than a month before the May 9 elections.

Two hackers busted

Two hackers in their 20s have been arrested and charged with violating the anticybercrime law.

A month later, a website uploaded a voter database hacked from the Comelec website, and published for public viewing sensitive voter information, from birth dates and addresses to fingerprint data and passport information.

The website has since been taken down, but the Comelec is facing complaints before the National Privacy Commission for the disastrous data leak./rga

Subscribe to INQUIRER PLUS to get access to The Philippine Daily Inquirer & other 70+ titles, share up to 5 gadgets, listen to the news, download as early as 4am & share articles on social media. Call 896 6000.