Image from Commission on Elections - An IT expert who refused to be named said the Comelec transparency server is tampered with
- The transparency server is where all the PPCRV’s unofficial and Comelec’s official vote count would come
- The IT expert said a foreign IT expert introduced a new computer command to the transparency server
The transparency server of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) might have been tampered with, according to an Information Technology (IT) expert who is an accredited observer at the command center of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), where the transparency server is located.
The Comelec’s transparency server is where all the PPCRV’s unofficial and Comelec’s official vote count would come, the IT expert who requested anonymity said.
The Standard’s article dated May 12, 2016 written by Christine Herrera said the IT expert claimed to have in possession an evidence that shows the “hash code” of the transparency server had been breached by Smartmatic officials to introduce a new script that may have rigged the results and compromised the entire system in partial and unofficial counting in favor of administration candidates.
The IT expert’s revelation bolstered the allegation of Senator Bongbong Marcos’ camp that a new “script” or computer command was introduced to the transparency server.
“We received an unsettling information that at past 7:30 pm on May 9, election day, a new script was introduced to the Transparency Server. This introduction of this new script is suspect because it was after this time that Sen. Marcos’s lead from Rep. Robredo started to erode at a rather distinctive pattern,” Atty. Francesca Huang, a lawyer for Marcos, said.
Indeed, the IT expert revealed that a few hours after the breach, Senator Marcos’s one million lead over Liberal Party bet Leni Robredo started to narrow down.
The IT expert disclosed that it was a Venezuelan IT expert of Smartmatic, the Comelec supplier of the vote counting machines, who tampered the “hash codes” that protected the integrity of the files containing the results.
When confronted, the Venezuelan reportedly admitted he was responsible for the incident. The confrontation was recorded on video and audio, said the unnamed IT expert.
“The Smartmatic IT expert’s job was only to ‘receive, decrypt and distribute’ the files. Since we are also IT experts and we have been doing this since the preparation for seven months already, we knew what the Venezuelan did was something irregular. He introduced a new script, a new computer program and commands that could alter everything and supercede the existing program,” he said.
The Venezuelan reportedly explained that he inserted a new script because one of the candidate’s names that appeared on the screen was erroneous. He claimed he fixed the error.
“What an excuse? The guy was obviously pulling our leg. We are IT experts, we know a new program was not needed to make changes in the name. So if he could alter the name, then he could alter the results. He could alter the entire command,” the IT expert said.
The IT expert said the Venezuelan could not identify who among the candidates complained about his or her erroneous name. The foreign IT expert could not show any record of a complaint filed.
The IT expert said he wants to know who authorized the Venezuelan to perform what he did.
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