Two government websites hacked

Article courtesy of ABS-CBNNews.com:

The website of the government's main information agency, the Philippine Information Agency (PIA), was  hacked by a user named "7z1."

An error message was displayed whenever a user tried to enter PIA's website. Search engine Google showed the word "HACKED BY 7z1" under the title Philippine Information Agency.  The agency's website was eventually restored Sunday evening.







The identity of the said user, as well as reasons for hacking the website, have yet to be determined.

This, however, took place days after a hacker, who claims to be from the People's Republic of China, demanded an apology for last week's hostage crisis at the Quirino Grandstand, where 8 Hong Kong tourists were slain.

A page from the Bulacan provincial website initially showed a statement made by user "dragons hack," who claimed to be part of a group called "Hacker Union of China/Malaysia." Flags of the said countries were also shown.

Dragons hack's remarks were written in special characters, and are displayed since Friday.

Here are some of his remarks, as translated by Google:







"Ako (ay) mula sa dakilang Republika ng Tsina. Dapat (kayong) humingi ng paumanhin sa Philippine (hostage) insidente...Humantong sa mga hostages (na) pinatay (na) responsibilidad ng inyong pamahalaan!"

"Bakit walang mga espesyal na pagsasanay ng pulis sa Pilipinas?"

On Sunday, the same page displayed a different image, but showed a similar statement:







The home page of the Bulacan provincial website, meanwhile, is still loading properly.

This is not the first time that government websites have been hacked.

Early this year, for instance, hackers defaced the home page of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) website.

Malacañang, under then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (who is now a congresswoman of Pampanga), said it has instructed government agencies to take steps to secure their websites.