Philippines asked to hire hackers after massive data leak

The Philippine government should hire “bored” hackers, it was suggested, after a massive data breach emerged this month.

These hackers could test the government’s security by trying to break into websites and protected systems, proposed Senator Ralph Recto.

The Philippines’ voter database of 55 million was hacked, in what has been described as the largest government breach in history. This includes passport numbers and fingerprints of millions of citizens.

Another hacker, a 23-year-old IT graduate, defaced the election commissions’ website. He hacked the website out of boredom, he has claimed, according to PhilStar.

“These talented Filipino internet experts should be employed by the executive department as white hat hackers to protect us from real cyber criminals,” Recto said.

The government could organise hacking competitions, and the best hackers could be recruited to government, he added.

Image by Beatrice Murch, licensed under CC BY 3.0