The Philippines' Commission on Elections (Comelec) has assured the public that biometric details were not lots in a hacking of its website a few weeks ago.Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez has told the public that sensitive biometrics data were not included in the database leak by a hacker group.”We know the data they (hacker group) claimed to have and we know that data do not include biometrics,” Jimenez said in a media briefing on TuesdayLast week, a defacing of the Comelec website fuelled fears of a major biometric hack, given that the body has registered most of the country's population ahead of a national poll this year.The National Bureau of Investigation also says it has also found a lead for the group responsible.”I would say we have a very good lead,” said Roland Aguto, NBI Cybercrime Division chief. “We're hoping that in the next few days, we will be able to identify, arrest and charge the person responsible.”Jimenez said the hacking would not compromise the elections results and that data inside the Comelec could not be manipulated.”The Comelec is studying legal remedies against those who intruded on the Comelec website as well as those who are benefitting. Once they are identified and apprehended, there will be legal action against them as well as those who have been taking advantage of what they did,” he said.Last week, a digital protection service provider in the Philippines has warned that fingerprint data may have been hacked during the intrusion on data in the country's electoral systems. Trend Micro said in a blog post that a recent hack leaked a massive cache of data from Comelec's databases-including voters' personal information.
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