A cell phone user accessing the GCash app. 

MANILA - The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) is convinced that there was no external hacking in the recent GCash issue which led to some users being affected by unauthorized transactions. 

DICT Usec. Jeffrey Ian Dy told ABS-CBN News said it was likely an internal issue. 

“We are 80 percent confident that this does not seem to be an external hacking - so at least from our perspective - we are more confident to say na mukhang yung sinasabi ni GCash na internal issue sa kanila - or bug of their sent to many application ang true culprit,” according to Dy.

Dy said, GCash submitted documents and reports pertaining to the latest incident.

“According to the report, ang tinamaan nga. Ang tinamaan nga ay yung kanilang send to many application. We also did an independent investigation afterward, so for the past 2 days, DICT’s National Emergency Response Team has been verifying technical reports of GCash and we’re also trying to replicate some possible attack patterns dun sa application of course with the permission of GCash,” Dy added. 

Globe CEO says no funds lost in recent GCash glitch

DICT according to Dy will submit its full report to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) that regulates GCash. Dy assured the public that the e-commerce and the financial sector in the country is still healthy.

“Due to these findings, we would like to report that cybersecurity of the financial sector is still healthy. Let’s trust online transactions - huwag po tayong maniwala dun sa mga panic statements na sinasabing i-withdraw lahat ng pera sa mga e-wallets,” Dy explained.

Businesswoman Mica Alcantara of Taytay Rizal told ABS-CBN News that she still uses GCash despite what happened to his account.

According to Alcantara, she lost P28,000 from her e-wallet account last November 9.

“Bale paggising ko ng 10:00 a.m. ng Saturday (November 9) wala na siyang lahat, limas na siya. Ang naiwan na lang is P800 plus sa account ko. Tsinek ko yung mga transactions - there was 14 transactions, bale 14 of P2, 000 - kasi worth P28k yung na-auto sent,” Alcantara told ABS-CBN News. 

Alcantara said, based on the transaction history of her e-wallet account, every transaction was sent to 2 recipients which she did not initiate. After this incident, Alcantara admitted that she had become wary, but she still uses her e-wallet account because of its convenience.  

GCash reveals cause behind unauthorized transactions

Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) executive director Undersecretary Alexander Ramos said they have yet to talk to GCash officials, but their investigation continues. 

“We have an investigation, kasi sabihin mo nang may glitch, pero meron tayong parameters ng mga previous breaches and hacking. Unang-una this incident happened during early morning hours, red-flag yung sa atin,” Ramos told ABS-CBN News.

For IT analyst Jerry Liao, GCash needs to improve further its security features to regain the trust of its affected customers.