Comelec warns Smartmatic over security breach
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) Friday warned Smartmatic International amid recent security breaches.
In a press conference a day after meeting Smartmatic officials, Comelec Chairman Saidamen Pangarungan said :''We told Smartmatic that the actions of their employee should not be repeated."
"I want to assure everyone, you read my lips, we will not allow anyone to undermine the people’s confidence in our electoral system. That is our pledge," said Pangarungan.
On late Thursday, Pangarungan, as well as Commissioners George Garcia and Rey Bulay, met with officials of Smartmatic at the Comelec head office in Intramuros.
This came after Senator Imee Marcos said an employee of Smartmatic supposedly allowed a group of hackers to copy election data from a company-issued laptop.
Pangarungan said they were told by Smartmatic officials the data leaked were internal information.
"They emphasized to us that the data leaked does not have anything to do with the elections in 2022. Those leaked were data concerning internal organization and activities," he related.
"They assured us that the security of the ballots, and the configured SD cards were not compromised by that leakage," added Pangarungan.
He said Smartmatic has dismissed the employee responsible for the breach.
Pangarungan said that they won't stop ongoing investigations on the incident involving Smartmatic, including the review of the Comelec law department on possible sanctions against the firm. DMS
