MANILA (UPDATED) -- The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) confirmed on Tuesday that one of its websites had been infiltrated.

But DICT spokesperson Assistant Secretary Renato Paraiso assured the media in an online press conference that there is no cause for concern since the affected web page was only their "sandbox site," which the agency uses to test potential vulnerabilities.

“Itong site na ‘to, this is where we test our VAPTs, ‘yong Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testings. Para siyang bag na empty, doon ka nagpa-practice,” he said.

“This site is also being used to study or gather data about other methods of hacking,” he added.

Paraiso also insisted that the site is isolated from the DICT’s main website, so no sensitive information has been compromised.

In tech speak, a sandbox refers to an environment where developers can test suspicious programs or other malware without harming the host network.

Speaking on Wednesday in front of the Senate Committee on Science and Technology, DICT Undersecretary for Connectivity, Cybersecurity and Upskilling Jeffrey Ian Dy said the specific website or URL penetrated by the hackers is designed to be attacked.

"That website contains nothing, it was a test site that we use for checking vulnerabilities, kasi we also have our own vulnerability assessment test," Dy explained.

"Siguro unfortunate lang after the testing…it was left open but we assure the public there’s really nothing there. In fact, nagtataka pa nga yung iba, ano ba ibig sabihin ng URL na yun, so it really contains no data," he added.

The development comes following recent cyber attacks against various government institutions including the House of Representatives, the Philippine Statistics Authority, and the Department of Science and Technology.

The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation was also hit by a ransomware attack in September which led to the leaking of personal information of as many as 20 million of its members.

• DICT pursuing leads behind cyberattacks vs gov't websites

-- Confidential funds? --

Asked by Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano if they need confidential funds to go after hackers, Dy said it does not have to be confidential funds, but the budget of the department as a whole.

"We leave it up to the legislature ... We will respect the decision of the legislature whether to grant us the confidential funds or not. In fact it is our position that we’re relatively agnostic kasi ang position talaga ng DICT is that kulang talaga yung pondo, that is the primary statement that we would like to reiterate, kulang yung pondo," he explained.

-- With a report from Johnson Manabat, ABS-CBN News.

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