Makati mayor: Operator of digital billboard that showed porn clip claimed its system hacked

The operator of the billboard that showed a pornographic clip at the Makati Central Business District claimed its system was hacked, Makati City Mayor Abigail Binay said Wednesday.

Binay told Dobol B sa News TV that based on an initial investigation by the digital billboard's operator, Globaltronics Inc., their system was hacked through remote access.

"Lumalabas sa initial investigation ng Globaltronics na-hack 'yung system. If you do research, this is not peculiar to the Philippines. Lumalabas na 'yun kahit sa Russia, may ganu'n na incident. Kahit sa America merong incident na hina-hack 'yung billboard," Binay said.

"Ang pagkakaintindi ko diyan, usually pre-programmed 'yan. Kasi 'di ba magfa-flash ng ilang segundo tapos magpapalit. I actually don't know why or how it was remotely accessed," she added.

Globaltronics Inc. offers digital billboards and displays. It installed indoor LED chandelier in the Philippine Stock Exchange's new headquarters at the Bonifacio Global City.

Binay said Globaltronics, Inc. will ask the Philippine National Police's Anti-Cybercrime Group to help in its probe into the incident.

She said the Makati City government is also asking the National Bureau of Investigation to conduct a separate investigation.

Meanwhile, Binay said the city government has ordered Globaltronics, Inc. to suspend all its billboards installed around the city.

A YouScrooper said the digital billboard, installed on a building at the corner of Makati and Gil Puyat avenues, showed a porn clip at around 2:40 p.m. on Tuesday.

"Kaya din nga po ngayon, as of last [Tuesday] night, I ordered them to shut down their billboard. Because that means na-compromise 'yung system. Until they determine what is the cause kung paano naipalabas ang show na 'yun, kung internally ba o externally nagkaroon ng remote access, kung ano man ang sinasabi nila," Binay said.

She said that the incident on Tuesday showed a need for other operators to check if their systems are susceptible to hacking.

She said the same incident may also happen in other parts of Metro Manila. —Jamil Santos/ALG, GMA News