Despite the Bank of the Philippine Islands’ (BPI) assurance that its system was not hacked, Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III still wants a Senate inquiry on the alleged computer glitch that hit the bank’s financial system on Wednesday.
“The computer fiasco is a dangerous occurrence even as the BPI assured the public that the so-called internal data processing error was not a case of hacking as spontaneously reported by social media users in their public accounts,” Pimentel said in a statement on Friday.
On Wednesday, the BPI reported an “internal data processing error” that led to discrepancies in bank account balances of some of its clients.
Social media users suspected the BPI system was hacked but this was immediately refuted by bank officials.
READ: BPI reports ‘internal data processing error’
Pimentel said the Senate inquiry would delve into the bank’s security protocols.
READ: BPI urged to explain systems glitch to clients
“The root cause of the data error must be fully explained by BPI to reassure the public that a similar incident would not occur again in the future,” the Senate leader said.
He also said local banks “must be on the lookout for a possible cyberattack as hackers worldwide have already victimized a number of banking institutions despite safeguard measures to preempt the commission of the crime.” IDL