Philippine education ministry hit by data leak involving over 210,000 school and tax records

Among the data exposed were profile photos of the applicants, and their parents' tax records. - COURTESY OF JEREMIAH FOWLER/VPNMENTOR

MANILA: A cyber-security researcher has found a vulnerability that exposed over 210,000 records of the Philippine education ministry to possible hacking and online scams.

Jeremiah Fowler, a researcher at cyber-security firm vpnMentor, said in a report on Feb 20 that he found a gap that gave nearly unencumbered access to an online platform used by senior high school students applying for government vouchers to cover their tuition costs.