Cyber incident prompts urgent P150-M upgrade of Marina’s IT system

Cyber incident prompts urgent P150-M upgrade of Marina’s IT system
Tracy Cabrera September 4, 2026 https://thechronicle.com.ph/cyber-incident-prompts-urgent-p150-m-upgrade...

Several attempts by foreign internet protocol (IP) addresses to steal seafarers’ biometric data has prompted the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) to initiate an upgrade of its aging digital infrastructure.

According to Marina’s Management Information Systems Service (MISS), the cyber intrusion has exposed the vulnerabilities of its current information technology (IT) system, thus underscoring the urgent need to execute a ₱150-million overhaul slated since 2024.

MISS director Joseph Victor Generato disclosed that foreign IP addresses repeatedly attempted to break into Marina’s system defenses and download the biometric data of seafarers from their registry.
“Since we lack a dedicated disaster recovery system, we immediately shut down online operations and dropped its firewalls to contain the intrusion,” Generato cited.
This was confirmed by Marina administrator Sonia Malaluan who fortunately announced that no data was lost or compromised by the ‘attack’.

However, the emergency shutdown, Malaluan added, halted the processing and issuance of Seafarers’ Identification Documents (SIDs) and Seafarers’ Record Books (SRBs) nationwide, stranding an estimated 3,000 daily applications and building a backlog of 20,000 to 30,000 pending credentials.
Despite this, Marina’s administrator assured affected maritime workers that they aim to achieve a controlled resumption of regular operations within a month or so to address the predicament.

Additionally, Marina will launch an interim system at its Manila Central Office to begin expedited processing for urgent applications. The disruption follows an initial cybersecurity incident detected on Aug. 13, which temporarily disabled the agency’s nationwide processing environment.

Moreover, during the interim, validity extensions and temporary paper certificates are being issued to prevent deployment disruptions and protect seafarers’ employment contracts abroad.

In the meantime, Malaluan noted that the incident highlights systemic risks in Marina’s primary credentialing platform, which has been managed for seven years by a joint venture between FMC Research Solutions and NEC Philippines under separate contracts for chip supply and hardware maintenance.

To address the said vulnerabilities, Generato asserted that they will be pushing to execute the long delayed nationwide hardware and software refresh across Marina’s regional offices.

However, he also mentioned that given the scale and sophistication of modern cyber threats, the 2024 budget allocation remains modest and deploying advanced automated defenses will ultimately require additional government funding.

At the same time, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) is conducting a forensic investigation of the incident while technical teams rebuild the system database in a clean environment.