'New poll system hack-proof'
THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) assured the public that the new election system is secured from tampering after the National Security Council (NSC) warned of possible foreign cyberattacks during the 2025 midterm polls.
«That is what we are doing — the reason why preparation is early. Procurement is timely. This ensures that the system is tested and all security measures are put in place,» Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said Wednesday.
«The features and the wish lists that we included in the hardware, software and transmission ensure the protection against any cyberattack,» he added.
Earlier, NSC Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya cited reports by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) about foreign cyber interference during elections in several countries.
«Given that it's an election year, we should be starting to prepare now on how to protect the integrity of the electoral process and protect it from cyberattacks. We see a consistent pattern abroad. We have seen foreign interference in elections in most democracies,» Malaya said in a TV interview.
He added that the NSC is coordinating with the DICT to prepare safeguards against cyberattacks during the 2025 midterm polls.
Early this month, the Comelec signed an P18-billion contract with South Korean firm Miru Systems for the lease of a full automation system with transparency audit/count for next year's election.
AdvertisementIt was in the process of procuring a P465.8 million online voting and counting system, which will be used for the first-ever online voting for overseas Filipinos.
Comelec spokesman John Rex Laudiangco said the machines were only enabled to transmit digital election results and were intentionally made to have «no reception» capability to reduce vulnerability against hacking.
«All these measures, which will similarly be implemented in the transmission services and the online voting and counting system, all add to the resilience and robustness of the whole automated elections system,» Laudingco added.
