[ISN] Hackers deface 5th govt Web site, mock automated polls

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/181239/hackers-deface-5th-govt-web-site-mock-may-polls

By JERRIE ABELLA
GMANews.TV
01/11/2010

Another government Web site was found defaced Sunday night - the fifth 
attack since last month.

Hackers of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority 
(Tesda) Web site, however, took on a bolder approach by leaving a 
message that seemed to mock the upcoming automated elections.

“Ano ba gagamitin sa Election? Blade server? Juniper Firewall (what is 
going to be used in the elections? Blade server? Juniper firewall)?" the 
message read.

Before Tesda's, hackers had also victimized the Web sites of the 
Department of Health (DOH), Department of Social Welfare and Development 
(DSWD), National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), and Department of 
Labor and Employment (DOLE).

Malacañang has expressed alarm over the series of hacking attacks on 
government Web sites, saying it raises new concerns about the security 
of the automated elections in May.

“Of course we are concerned. This is not just a problem in our country, 
this is not just something that has happened just recently, it's 
happening all over the country so this is certainly something that we 
are sensitive to as a matter of information policy within government," 
said deputy presidential spokesman Gary Olivar at a press conference 
last week.


Dirty finger

The hacked Tesda Web site also showed a black and white illustration of 
a man giving the “dirty finger" supposedly directed against several 
“abusive" military and police units.

A pair of bulging eyeballs also followed the pointer anywhere on the 
page, and background music was also set up on the site’s second web page 
to which it automatically transfers.

Aside from the derisive reference to the May elections, message of 
sympathy to a slain communist rebel and a potshot against an alleged 
abusive police officer also replaced the original contents of the site.

“Nakikiramay kami sa Iskolar ng Bayan, Freedom Fighter na si Kimay" (We 
sympathize with the death of scholar of the people, freedom fighter 
Kimay)" the hackers’ message read, referring to Kemberly Jul Luna, a 
young New People’s Army (NPA) cadre who was killed last December 15 in 
an encounter with the military in Bukidnon province.

The message also identified a certain PO1 Ramos as an “abusive" police 
officer.

The hackers also made the site automatically jump into a second page, 
which featured a background music; a job announcement supposedly from 
VenturesLink, one of the partners of Smartmatic-TIM in the automation of 
the elections, inviting technicians across the country to be part of its 
team; a quote from the Hacker Manifesto, a short essay written by 
well-known hacker Lloyd Blankenship after he was arrested in 1986.


Precautions

Following the attacks on government Web sites by hackers, Olivar urged 
the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and other agencies to take the 
necessary precautions to secure their Web sites.

“Other agencies which are not yet hit by this are likewise taking the 
necessary precautions, especially Comelec because of the automated 
nature of the next elections," he said at last week's briefing.

The Comelec had earlier said that adequate safeguards are in place to 
protect the election results from hackers. Spokesman James Jimenez said 
the system to be used in the coming automated polls would operate on a 
“virtual private network," making it difficult for hackers to bypass the 
system’s security mechanisms. - KBK, GMANews.TV


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