Philstar website hacked

MANILA, Philippines - The website of The Philippine STAR, www.philstar.com, was briefly hacked Friday night, with the main page replaced by one claiming that Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal in the West Philippine Sea belongs to China.

The hacking incident lasted less than 10 minutes and the website was quickly restored.

It was the first cyber attack on Philippine media since the standoff at the shoal on April 10, when eight Chinese fishing vessels were apprehended by Philippine authorities for illegally harvesting giant clams, corals and other endangered marine species. Several Chinese surveillance vessels came on the scene and prevented Philippine authorities from arresting the poachers.

The STAR condemns the attack and emphasizes that the diplomatic process, not hacking, is the way to resolve conflicting territorial claims.

The attack followed the hacking of the website of the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City on April 20. Messages in English, accompanied by Chinese characters, were posted, calling on the Philippines to leave Panatag Shoal. UP students retaliated by hacking certain Chinese websites.

Government websites such as the Official Gazette, the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office, the Presidential Museum and Library, and the Department of Budget and Management were also briefly hacked after the attack on the UP website.

Chinese hackers also tried targeting the Philippine Institute of Development Studies (PIDS), Bulacan provincial government, Radio Mindanao Network (RMN), People Management Association of the Philippines (PMAP), and the Philippine National Police (PNP).

Although there was no confirmed report that these websites were hacked, the list of usernames and passwords of their respective website administrators were posted on several Chinese online forums.

Meanwhile, Malacañang appealed yesterday for the public to hold off on pinning blame until the hackers were identified to avoid escalating tensions.

“We are not pinpointing anybody (because) we have not yet identified the personalities behind (the incident) or the origin (of the attack). We must first clarify that. But to whoever is responsible, this does not help anybody... It only disturbs people,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said over radio station dzRB.

Valte said it is difficult to just make statements without looking into the matter more carefully.

“We cannot rely simply on representations like that (saying they are from China). That would be irresponsible for us. But to whoever is doing it, it should stop... It does npt bring any discernable benefit to anybody,” Valte said.

Valte said these acts were not helping the situation and at the end of the day, could only be counterproductive.

“It does not seek to facilitate any resolution to the incident in Panatag Shoal so let us stop these acts,” she said.