CIDG, DOJ websites hacked

Authorities are investigating reports that the websites of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) have been hacked.

Both websites have been “re-directed” to the homepage of the amusement park Enchanted Kingdom.

A third website, that of the Information Technology and Electronic Commerce Council, www.itecc.gov.ph, was also re-directed to the amusement park’s homepage.

The STAR tried to access www.cidg.pnp.gov.ph twice. In the first attempt, the website was re-directed. When The STAR tried to access the site a second time, a dialogue box said the website could not be found.

The Philippine National Police has its own website, www.pnp.gov.ph.

A CIDG police officer said the group does not have its own website. In 1999, then Chief Inspector Nestor Gualberto launched a CIDG website, but this has been inactive for some time.

The CIDG’s Anti-Fraud and Computer Crime Division (AFCCD) has been investigating incidents of computer hacking in private and government agencies.

“Maybe the site is really for the theme park, we will check it,” said the police officer.

An officer of the PNP Public Information Office explained that the www.cidg.pnp.gov.ph, used to be the official website of the CIDG but has been deactivated, apparently after the hosting contract with e-PLDT expired and the CIDG shut down its site.

The internet protocol (IP) address previously assigned to www.cidg.pnp.gov.ph, has been re-assigned to another subscriber. An IP address is like a telephone number.

Meanwhile, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez ordered the National Bureau of Investigation to identify who hacked the DOJ’s website.

Gonzalez met with Assistant Regional Director Vicente de Guzman III, chief of the NBI-Anti-Fraud and Computer Crimes Division (AFCCD), and his executive officer, Palmer Mallari, at the DOJ head office yesterday.

The DOJ was reportedly alarmed when it noticed that its website has been “defaced.” Instead of seeing the official DOJ website, what was shown was the homepage of the amusement park Enchanted Kingdom.

“In previous computer hacking cases handled by the NBI, oftentimes the website would be defaced. But in this case, it seems that the amusement park’s website was redirected to a legitimate website. We would still want to know what is the motive for hacking the website,” an NBI official said.

The DOJ immediately coordinated with its web host e-PLDT, which is a subsidiary company of Philippine Long Distance Telephone, and requested that it restore the agency’s website. As of late yesterday afternoon, the DOJ’s website regained its regular appearance.

“This could be an indication that whoever is responsible for the hacking is not afraid of the DOJ or its attached agencies such as the NBI. It is not afraid of the government,” he said.

The perpetrator might have had time to hack the DOJ’s website during the long holiday break.