In a statement issued to the media last night, Globe Telecom found potential vulnerabilities on their portal for the SIM Card Registration. An Act that was made into law by the Philippine government instructing individuals to have their SIM Card registered or face cancelation of service. The act was rendered to help fight numerous spam and phishing tactics and other unscrupulous activities like the cultivation of troll farming via SMS. It’s also a good step towards tighter cybersecurity for the entire country.
With the SIM Card Registration Act or Republic Act No. 11934 going live on December 27, 2022, all 3 major networks (Globe, Smart, and DITO) faced huge technological hiccups with constant server timeouts, huge influx of people trying to get into the portal and other unforeseen circumstances.
On Globe’s end, they saw a potential security vulnerabilities in their microsite and thus had to shutdown their portal to patch things up. While they did not elaborate the extent of the vulnerability, Globe is taking a proactive stance in ensuring that any and all information logged on to their microsite remains safe.
According to Globe, around 20,000 customers were able to register before they discovered the potential security vulnerability.
You can read the full statement below:
December 27, 2022, 8 p.m.
We apologize to our mobile customers, especially those who have been wanting to take advantage of the first day of SIM registration.
Globe is committed to make SIM registration easy and convenient for its 87.9 million customers. However, it is very unfortunate that we discovered potential minor vulnerabilities in our microsite that require careful patching in order to prevent any serious threat to customer data. We take this very seriously hence even minor issues are given utmost attention. This happened despite all the preparation, technical tests and due diligence we have conducted.
Globe has also informed the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) about the issue on our SIM registration portal, new.globe.com.ph/simreg, today, December 27, 2022.
These issues prompted Globe to take proactive measures to make the site temporarily inaccessible as customer data security is paramount and any problem detected is treated with utmost severity. In light of this development, Globe has requested the NTC for a maximum of 72 hours from today to observe our SIM registration portal to ensure all patches made are technically stable.
Prior to this, the SIM registration portal went live early in the morning today where at least 20,000 customers were able to register.
Globe takes full responsibility for the actions it has taken and is prepared to accept any regulatory penalty if merited, in order to prioritize the protection of its customers’ data.
Globe asks its customers for patience and understanding given this unprecedented and massive IT deployment. We wish to assure our customers that Globe is doing its best to deliver a SIM registration platform that provides a good digital experience for customers, that is also secure and safe.
Globe likewise assures existing customers that there is enough time to complete their registration. All Globe Prepaid, TM, Globe At Home Prepaid WiFi, Globe Mobile WiFi and Globe Business prepaid customers have until April 26, 2023 to register.
For new SIM users, they may visit the site within the next 72 hours, as we implement our system fixes.
Registration via the Globe One app will begin by January 2023, while on-site assisted registration will start in February 2023 for Globe customers facing challenges using digital or online platforms, using feature or basic phones, or have no internet access.
We will continue to provide regular updates on the SIM registration of our customers.