Manila, Philippines — In just two days, the official websites of the Senate of the Philippines and of the House of Representatives were consecutively defaced on June 11 and June 13 respectively.
Nullsec Philippines claimed to be the one behind the cyberattack on the Senate website, highlighting a message against corruption in the Philippines.
Based on the group’s message posted on the Senate website, they condemned the rampant corruption that is not only an issue of stolen money but also of stolen justice and trust to the institution.
The group emphasized that while some benefit from corruption, many ordinary and poor Filipinos are denied opportunities and are forced to bear the consequences of the failing system.
They likewise criticized the alleged attempt to silence them, citing the removal of their official pages.
Despite this, the group maintained that they won’t stay silent, and that Filipinos will not forget.
On the other hand, the group that is said to be responsible for the attack on the Lower Chamber’s website likewise criticized the corruption in the government.
Authorities say that the House hacker may be the same group that defaced the same website back in 2023.
Despite the cyberattacks, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) assured that there are no important information or data breached from the deface.
Following these incidents, the Cybercrime Investigations and Coordinating Center (CICC) and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) have partnered to intensify the campaign against cybercrime activities and strengthen the country’s cyberdefense system.
During the signing of the memorandum of agreement between the two agencies, CICC Undersecretary Renato “Aboy” Paraiso admitted that there are still challenges faced by teh country regarding cybersecurity issues.
Aside from cybercrimes crackdown, the agreement also aims to intensify the information drive to promote cybersecurity awareness and digital literacy of the public to avoid being victims of online crimes.
The cybersecurity agencies likewise confirmed that they have identified the group behind the attack.
They noted that they have looked into the usual suspects and has procure a system to directly identify the persons.
Paraiso reiterated that there is no important or sensitive information lost from the deface.—Mia Layaguin, Eurotv News