DBM site defaced; other govt sites down

Published April 25, 2012 4:35pm

The website of the Department of Budget and Management was defaced Wednesday afternoon, and was quickly taken down for a "security audit" even as other websites were also taken down briefly.

In a statement, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said the defacement occurred at 2 p.m., but quickly stressed that their initial findings indicate the data on the site was intact.

"We are at present conducting a security audit on the site, which will remain offline until the audit has been completed and the necessary repairs are made. In addition, we have yet to establish the true identities of the parties or individuals responsible for the attack," Abad said.

The website of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process was also taken down

Last week, he said the DBM made a soft launch of its new website, which was designed to be more user-friendly and interactive for users and visitors.

Abad said it was lucky the DBM shifted to the new platform, which he said "presents fewer security risks than the DBM’s previous content management system."

"We are issuing this statement to alert other agencies to possible vulnerabilities in their respective websites," he said.

Meanwhile, at least two other government websites were taken down Wednesday afternoon.

The Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process was briefly taken down "due to technical problems," but was back up shortly after 4 p.m.

The site of the Philippine National Police would display an index of the site's contents when accessed as of 4:40 p.m.

Error at the PNP website

Also, the Department of Foreign Affairs website was also down as of 4 p.m., and would display a "timeout" error message. It had been down since Monday but was back up shortly Tuesday night. It was not clear if the attacks were related to the cyberattacks and counter-attacks in connection with the standoff between the Philippines and China at Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal.

Last week's cyberattacks started on the website of the University of the Philippines supposedly by pro-China hackers who defaced the site claiming the shoal is China's.

Pro-Philippine hackers struck back, hitting Chinese websites with counter-claims.

The Department of Science and Technology had appealed for a stop to such attacks even if they are retaliatory, maintaining the Philippine government is pursuing a diplomatic route to resolving the problem. — RSJ/TJD, GMA News

Tags: hacking, departmentofbudgetandmanagement,