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An excellent team of auditors from Land Bank of the Philippines and Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) was ordered to carry out a comprehensive review of the internal workings of United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) as soon as the economic managers were informed from the country. a successful hack that left the government-controlled bank P167 million poorer.
The Inquirer learned that nothing less than the Secretary of the Treasury, Carlos Domínguez III, ordered the investigation a few days after learning of the cyberseist that occurred during the three-day weekend of June 12 when the country celebrated its Independence Day.
Investigators were ordered to determine how hackers were able to penetrate UCPB’s computer systems, as well as to verify whether the theft was aided or instigated by insiders from the bank.
In addition, the UCPB is now headed by a former high-ranking official of the Land Bank of the Philippines, Liduvino Geron, who was appointed the bank’s officer in charge on July 2, two weeks after the robbery was discovered.
The UCPB board is also full of people appointed by PDIC, by virtue of the fact that the deposit insurer granted it 20,000 million pesos in liquidity assistance in 2008, a loan that has since been converted to give the government a 97% stake. percent in the bank.
The Inquirer also learned that the move to bring UCPB under closer supervision from Landbank bankers and PDIC regulators came after Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Audit Commission (COA) released their respective reports on the bank, which raised issues with the financial institution’s internal systems and operations.
“They had lousy controls, lax internal security, their IT [systems] they were weak and their loans looked bad, “said an official familiar with the BSP and COA reports. “That is why the leadership was renewed immediately.”
As this unfolded, the BSP confirmed that it was “well aware of the reported UCPB incident and has been in close coordination with the bank since the first part of its investigation.”
“UCPB is taking the necessary corrective measures to increase cybersecurity, including collaboration with the [National Bureau of Investigation] for the investigation and eventual prosecution of the alleged criminals, ”BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno said in a telephone message to journalists.
The central bank chief said the results of the initial investigation also indicated that “UCPB account holders did not suffer financial loss or damage in this particular incident.”
“We remain steadfast in fully resolving the matter while working closely with the bank and the relevant law enforcement agency,” Diokno said. “Rest assured that, in pursuit of our cybersecurity agenda, we continue to collaborate and engage financial institutions overseen by BSP to ensure the security and integrity of the financial system, as well as the protection of financial consumers.”
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