DOST calls for centralized hosting after massive hacking of gov’t websites

Some of the websites hacked by Anonymous Philippines showed a message criticizing the government’s decision to allow lawmakers to identify projects. (From the Facebook page of Your Anonph News)

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Science and Technology said they are looking into having a centralized web hosting service for government websites after at least 30 of their Internet domains were hacked on Monday, coinciding with the “Million People March.”

Anonymous Philippines hacked government home pages to call for the complete abolition of the pork barrel system.

“This recent spate of website defacements goes to show the serious need for the Government Web Hosting Service (GWHS ), especially since government websites will more and more be leveraged to deliver public services,” said Louis Casambre, Executive Director of the DOST Information and Communications Technology Office, in a statement.

Casambre said the development of the GWHS was in accordance of Administrative Order no. 39 enacted on July 12. The order mandates all national government agencies, government financial institutions, and government-owned and controlled corporations to have their websites hosted under the GWHS.

The official also called on the “hacking community not to target such sites” because of their critical information dissemination roles.

Many of the hacked websites belonged to local government units.

On Facebook, Anonymous Philippines claimed that the websites of the President, the Senate, the Bureau of Customs, Department of Finance, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Internal Interview, Department of Agrarian Reform, Department of Public Works and Highways, Quezon City Official website, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Treasury, Department of Energy, Department of Education, and Department of Environment and Natural Resources were also affected.

The group also posted that the government has substandard websites because of “greed.”