Hackers are demanding $300,000 from the Philippine government amid reports the database of state insurer Philippine Health Insurance Corporation is being sold on the Dark Web.

Secretary Ivan Uy of the Department of Information and Communications Technology said a crack team is investigating the alleged hacking, which was done via Medusa ransomware.

"We never pay any ransom at all. The policy of government is we never give in to blackmail or ransom techniques," he said in a TeleRadyo Serbisyo interview.

PhilHealth earlier said it immediately disabled the system access to its website and portal after the detection of the attack early Friday, September 22, as part of information security measures.

On Saturday the state insurer laid out temporary procedures for members to file benefits and submit contributions while it tries to resolve a cyberattack on its system.

• How to access benefits while PhilHealth's system is down