GMA Network has issued an official statement addressing what they describe as a “recent cybersecurity incident,” following reports that the media organization’s website had been targeted by a ransomware attack.
Official Response
In its statement, GMA Network acknowledged that they have “conducted an initial investigation following a recent cybersecurity incident” and also offered reassurance as to the nature of the potentially compromised information, stating that “the data involved were assessed to be of low value and did not contain any sensitive, personal, or confidential information.”
The statement further indicated that “The Network continues to investigate the matter thoroughly with the support of our technology partners and remains committed to maintaining the integrity and security of our operations.”
This marks the first official confirmation from GMA Network regarding the security breach.
Previous Allegations
The cybersecurity incident came to light when a ransomware group identifying themselves as “DEVMAN” claimed to have breached GMA Network’s systems. According to initial reports, the attackers alleged they had exfiltrated approximately 65 Gigabytes of data and were demanding a ransom of 2.5 million USD.
Reports indicated that following the incident, GMA Network had implemented updates to their website infrastructure, presumably to address security vulnerabilities. The alleged attackers had also reportedly begun offering the purportedly stolen data for sale to interested parties.
Industry Context
This incident occurs against a backdrop of increasing ransomware attacks targeting media organizations worldwide. Such attacks typically aim to disrupt operations and extract payment through either the threat of permanent data encryption or the public release of sensitive information.
The media organization has not provided a timeline for when their investigation might be completed or when additional information might be shared with the public. At the time of writing, they also haven’t responded to our inquiry.
Emman has been writing technical and feature articles since 2010. Prior to this, he became one of the instructors at Asia Pacific College in 2008, and eventually landed a job as Business Analyst and Technical Writer at Integrated Open Source Solutions for almost 3 years.
