HACKERS are maliciously and audaciously targeting government websites, defacing them and taunting our very own IT experts, both in government and the private sector, with insulting memes.
The latest cyberattack was on the website of the House of Representatives which was vandalized before noon Sunday by a group calling itself “3MUSKETEERZ.”
Netizens visiting the congressmen’s website were either surprised or annoyed to see a troll face meme with the phrases “You’ve been hacked” and “Have a nice day” prominently displayed on the screen. Below the troll’s face is the message, “Happy April Fullz Kahit October palang! Fix your Website.”
‘The experts in cybercrime, whether Filipinos or foreigners, have become so adept at what they do that the DICT will need all the help in terms of funding, training and technology to defeat them.’
A few minutes later, the website of the House of Representatives crashed and cannot be accessed. It took almost a day before the House IT personnel were able to restore it.
House Secretary General Reginald Velasco said steps have been taken to address the issue and the House is working closely with the Department of Information and Communications Technology, Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center, and law enforcement agencies in investigating the hacking incident.
The most virulent cyber strike lately was that one launched against the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) last September 22, in which the perpetrators used the Medusa ransomware in trying to extort money from the government state insurer. The hackers took over PhilHealth’s data files and threatened to publish these online if their demand for $300,000 is not met. We are not in a position to know if PhilHealth paid the ransom or not, although the official line is that they refused to pay, but it took almost a month before the website was restored and became usable again.
On the heels of this incident is another cyber assault, this time against the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) website on October 11. The National Privacy Commission through its information chief confirmed that the PSA has suffered a data breach and has filed a breach notification report.
There was also a confirmed data breach on the Department of Science and Technology’s OneExpert portal although the DOST gave the assurance that no personal data was compromised. The OneExpert portal is a publicly available registry of Filipino experts aimed at enhancing access to services of local scientists.
In the wake of these cyber onslaughts, senators led by JV Ejercito are pushing to reinstate the P300-million confidential fund requested by the Department of Information and Communication Technology, which the House deleted from the 2024 national budget.
Information Secretary Ivan Uy has pointed out that his department will be “going into battle with our hands tied” with the inadequate funds allotted to them by Congress.
The experts in cybercrime, whether Filipinos or foreigners, have become so adept at what they do that the DICT will need all the help in terms of funding, training and technology to defeat them.
