CICC thwarts cyberattacks on gov’t websites during Sept. 21 protests

The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) on Sunday reported several attempts to penetrate websites of national government agencies and deface the same day of the scheduled September 21 protests, with seven that were successful but were immediately recovered.

According to Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Henry Aguda, the breaches were addressed immediately as government agencies have already been preparing for the country’s hosting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit next year.

“We’ve been preparing for ASEAN. What we want to do is pagdating ng ASEAN dito sa Pilipinas, ready tayo, hindi tayo mapapahiya, so that preparation, na-dry run this weekend, and I’m happy with the way that the cybersecurity teams of all government agencies cooperated and coordinated,” he said in a virtual briefing.

“Considering sa dami ng digital asset natin, wala po tayong masyadong naramdaman na critical. Maganda ‘yung performance nila,” he added.

(We’ve been preparing for ASEAN. What we want to do is when ASEAN arrives in the Philippines, we are ready and we won’t be embarrassed. That preparation was a dry run this weekend, and I’m happy with the way that the cybersecurity teams of all government agencies cooperated and coordinated.

Considering the volume of our digital assets, we didn’t really feel any critical issues. Their performance was good.)

The CICC is tasked to be the primary policy, planning , coordinating, implementing, and administrative entity of the DICT when it comes to cybercrime.

According to Aguda, the breaches were minimal when compared with the 54,000 local government units, and some 12,000 national government agencies (NGAs), and agencies have already been coordinating since last week.

The attempts to penetrate government websites were made on Sunday, September 21, the anniversary of Martial Law in the Philippines, the same day protests were scheduled against the corruption of flood control project funds.

“Doon sa mga mangilan ngilan, itigil niyo naman po at hindi po kayo nakakatulong. ‘Pagka may na-deface kayo na website or kaya na-DDoS, kahit na pwede niyong sabihin na hindi naman ganon ka-critical ‘yun, eh nakakadagdag lang po sa gulo ‘yun,” Aguda said.

“‘Wag na po muna nating gawin. Mawawala lang ‘yung peaceful discourse natin sa ganyan,” he added.

(To the few who are doing this, stop as you are not helping. When you deface a website or launch a DDoS attack, even if you can say that it is not that critical, it only adds to the chaos. Let us not do that for now. It will only take away from our peaceful discourse.)

The attempts were made the same day a number of protesters marched to Luneta for the “Baha sa Luneta: Aksyon Laban sa Korapsyon” mass demonstration. There have also been protests scheduled at the People Power Monument along Epifanio delos Santos Avenue.

This comes as President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. last month bared that 20% of the total P545-billion budget for flood control projects went to only 15 contractors, which he described as a “disturbing assessment.”

The President has also vowed to ensure that those involved in anomalous projects would be held accountable, triggering both chambers of Congress to launch their own probes into the issue.

The government has also formed the Independent Commission for Infrastructure, which will conduct its own investigation into the irregularities in infrastructure projects and ensure accountability in the use of public funds.

The commission is chaired by former Supreme Court Justice Andres Bernal Reyes Jr., and counts as members for Public Works and Highways Secretary Rogelio “Babes” Singson, and SGV and Co. country managing partner Rossana Fajardo. It will also have Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong as special adviser.—LDF, GMA Integrated News