NBI: Int’l group behind hacking of gov’t web sites

Threats to hack web sites of government agencies by a group with an international affiliation have become a matter of national security, according to the  National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) lead agent assigned to the probe.

“The threats are now a national security concern because the targets are leading government agencies,” said special investigator Joey Narciso of the NBI computer crimes division.

Narciso  told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in a phone interview the bureau, other law enforcement agencies and related departments would meet to address the threats.

He said the bureau would also seek cooperation from their counterparts abroad through the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty.

“When it comes to cybercrime investigation, we would have to coordinate with the law enforcement agencies abroad, this is international cooperation,” he said.

He said the NBI would also work with the government agencies whose web sites were either hacked or fell victim to distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks.

Even Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle was not spared.

Amid the raging controversy over the Cybercrime Prevention Act, a statement under the archbishop’s name began circulating on the Internet supposedly favoring the measure.

“Please be informed Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle does not have a Facebook account,” said Manila archdiocese communications director Peachy Yamsuan.

“He has a fan page administered by JesCom (Jesuit Communications). (But) he has not issued any official statement on the cybercrime law,” Yamsuan added in a text message to reporters.

The anti-cybercrime law has been the subject of controversy and criticism for taking a libel law to the Internet and other provisions perceived to be tantamount to prior restraint.

Narciso said the group of hackers that calls itself Anonymous Philippines used software based in Europe that contained an IP address that could be traced.

He also said the NBI web site was not hacked contrary to claims by Anonymous Philippines.

“The NBI web site was not hacked, we shut down the site to check if we were hacked and immediately uploaded again,” he said. With a report from Tina G. Santos