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Philippine Government & Private Websites Targeted by Hackers

Visitors visiting the websites of the Philippine National Police's Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Information Technology and E-commerce Council (ITECC) on January 3, 2007 were redirected to the Enchanted Kingdom's website situated in the province of Laguna, south of Manila.

The Justice Department site was fixed on January 3, 2007. Both CIDG as well as ITECC are probing the cases of unauthorized access to computer networks in government and private organizations.

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales directly instructed the National Bureau of Investigation to find out the cyber-terrorists, reported AHN on January 3, 2008.

Gonzalez asserted that the attack did not impart any negative result on their site but acknowledged that the event did present a threat to national safety. The DOJ Secretary added that if hackers could hack the Justice Department site so effortlessly, then sites of other government organizations are also in danger of being attacked.

The Philippine National Police's recently deputed representative Senior Superintendent Nicanor Bartolome stated that they too would initiate their individual inquiry into the event, as reported by Gmanews on January 3, 2008.

As per security experts, the threat is real if there are classified materials on the site. Moreover, it can be confusing for others. Breaching a computer network unlawfully can create a major economic turmoil.

The Department of Justice website, which holds public documents comprising the judgments, primers, and information on special programs being initiated by the department, has been restored back to normal.

PLDT that hosts the site of the Justice Department has also assured to probe the incidence. Although the activities of the department were not disturbed on account of the unauthorized breach, the truth that someone could infiltrate government sites presented a risk to other government organizations, particularly those dealing matters of national security.

In the meantime, a functionary of the Enchanted Kingdom alleged the theme park too was targeted by hackers. Enchanted Kingdom's corporate communications officer, Miles Sarmiento, declared that the company would look into the matter and would request ePDT, the web designer of its Internet site, to give details about the attack, reported AHN on January 3, 2008.

Related article: Philippines Circulates Spam Accounting for 87% of E-mails

» SPAMfighter News - 1/17/2008

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