3 alleged hackers in Smartmatic security breach fall in sting operation
MANILA, Philippines — Anti-cybercrime personnel have arrested three alleged hackers of the so-called “XSOX Group” in an entrapment operation after they claimed to be involved in an alleged security breach of poll tech provider Smartmatic's system.
The alleged hackers have been “persistently visible” on the "dark web" and claiming that they can influence the upcoming May polls, the police Anti-Cybercrime Group said in a release. They allegedly threatened to release 60 Gigabytes from the 1 Terabyte worth of Smartmatic and Commission on Elections data they were able to access.
However, the Department of Information and Communications Technology’s Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center said the hackers did not have access to the data for the actual elections in May.
"Masasabi namin together with the PNP (Philippine National Police) na ito ay napakalaking scam. ‘Yung kanilang na-hack, totoo nga, meron silang nakuhang access sa Smartmatic system nung una… hanggang dun lang sa preparations pero sa actual elections, hindi na ho [nila ma-access ang Comelec system]," CICC Undersecretary Cezar Mancao II said in a press conference on Tuesday.
(We, along with the PNP, can say that this is a massive scam. The platform that they did have access to by hacking the Smartmatic system… they only had access to the preparations but they were not able to get to the Comelec’s system for the actual elections.)
Entrapment operations
The DICT’s CICC along with the PNPs Anti-Cybercrime Group conducted the entrapment operation in Imus, Cavite and Sta. Rosa, Laguna over the weekend.
Authorities had agents pretend to be interested in the hackers’ plan to influence and manipulate the May 9 elections. CICC intelligence operatives met with the hackers three times, once in Solaire Resort and Casino Manila, Edsa Shangri-La, and in Laguna.
“Naghanap sila ng mga kandidato na sumasang-ayon sa kanilang mga plano na mag-hack at papanalunin. Ayaw naming banggitin ang mga pangalan at probinsya, subalit meron na,” Mancao said.
(They were looking for candidates who would be onboard with their plan to hack and win. We don’t want to mention names and provinces, but there are names.)
Authorities added that the group was just trying to scam interested politicians.
The group asked for P60 million, but operatives tricked them into getting an initial payment worth P10 million.
The three hackers arrested are:
- Joel Adajar Ilagan, alias “Borger”
- Adrian De Jesus Martinez, alias “Admin X”
- Jeffrey Cruz Limpiado, alias “Brake,” “Vanguard,” “Universe,” and “LRR”
“Connected ito sa unang sumuko na si Ricardo Argana na ngayon ay hindi na mahanap, subalit sa kanyang pagtatago ngayon ay talaga namang hinahanap pa rin,” Mancao said.
(They are connected to the first man to surrender, Ricardo Argana, who is now in hiding. We are still on the lookout for him.)
The National Bureau of Investigation earlier raided the house of Argana, who was a former Smartmatic employee.
READ: NBI raids Smartmatic employee’s house
With the help of the Department of Justice and the National Prosecution Service on Monday, the three will face charges for violating the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 through system interference, illegal access, and attempt in the commission of cybercrime.
"The Comelec assures the public that the systems that they have in place are multi-level security on all their systems,” PBGen. Allan C. Nobleza said, adding that it is “next to impossible" to hack.
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