Report: Cyberattacks expose 85.9 million records in PH

National

PERSONAL information, identification documents, financial records and other sensitive data were among the 85.9 million records exposed in cyberattacks across the Philippines in the third quarter, according to a cybersecurity firm.

The Cyber Threat Landscape Report of Viettel Cyber Security (VCS) recorded 83 data breach incidents in the country during the third quarter, up from 76 in the same period last year.

July accounted for the bulk of the incidents, with 47 cases exposing approximately 60.2 million records. The remaining incidents occurred in August and September.

Despite the lower number of exposed records compared with the second quarter, VCS cautioned that the decline did not necessarily indicate an easing of cybersecurity threats.

The firm noted that attackers had shifted their focus to fewer but larger datasets and the sale of direct network access, including privileged administrative, virtual private network (VPN) and Active Directory credentials. With 2026 year-to-date figures reaching 338 incidents and more than 421 million breached records, VCS warned that the risk of systemic intrusion remained high.

Government agencies accounted for the largest share of targeted organizations, followed by lending platforms, banks and investment firms, and consumer services.

The findings come amid reports of data breaches affecting at least 10 Philippine government agencies.

Although VCS did not identify the specific agencies and organizations targeted, it detailed several incidents involving substantial amounts of sensitive information.

One breach involving an unidentified government agency exposed 103.2 gigabytes (GB) of data, including more than 140,000 scanned passports and identification cards.

The compromised files also contained overseas worker contract and deployment records, user accounts, and financial, agency and legal case documents.

Another incident involving the transportation sector compromised 16 million records, equivalent to 7.7 GB of data. The exposed information included transport franchise and operator records, as well as personal information stored across multiple systems and databases. The report did not establish whether the incident involved a government agency or a private organization.

A series of attacks on Philippine online lending platforms also exposed approximately 32 million records.

Apart from the leaked databases, VCS reported that at least nine million credentials, including usernames and passwords, were compromised during the quarter. These could allow cybercriminals to gain unauthorized access to the accounts of affected users.

The government has assured the public of its capacity to respond to cyberattacks following reports that at least 10 state agencies had suffered data breaches.

Palace press officer Claire Castro said authorities had promptly addressed previous attacks against government websites, adding that the government was prepared to respond to similar incidents, including website hacking.

She also confirmed that President Marcos was aware of the reported data leakages, which surfaced days before the country’s much-anticipated ASEAN Leaders’ Summit.

Meanwhile, the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) said some datasets circulating online in connection with the recent attacks may not represent newly stolen government information.

CICC executive director Renato Paraiso said Thursday that investigators had found indications that some of the files originated from previous cyber incidents and were being recirculated to make it appear that new attacks had taken place.

“We have already seen evidence that these datasets are data from past exploits,” Paraiso said over dzBB, as auoted by Philstar.

The CICC is working with the National Bureau of Investigation to identify the individuals behind the attacks, including those operating under various online aliases.

Among them is a group calling itself the “Three Musketeers,” which allegedly claimed responsibility for targeting the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

Separately, Moody’s Ratings identified the Philippines as potentially one of the emerging markets most exposed to the economic effects of artificial intelligence, citing the country’s substantial information technology and business process outsourcing industry.

The debt watcher said AI could generate productivity gains while also posing employment displacement risks in economies with significant software, IT and business process outsourcing operations. However, it noted that there was still no clear evidence of either trend in the Philippines and India, two of the emerging markets potentially most exposed to AI-related changes.

Moody’s said the long-term effects of AI on emerging economies would partly depend on their ability to secure sufficient computing capacity, develop digital infrastructure and equip workers with the skills needed to benefit from the technology.(MyTVCebu)