DBM website defaced allegedly by Chinese nationals as of 3:00 P.M., April 25, 2012.
MANILA, Philippines — (UPDATED 4:00 P.M.) The government’s Department of Budget and Management (DBM) website fell victim to what appears to be hackers from China on Wednesday in the latest in a spate of defacement activities between Philippine and Chinese hackers.
The homepage of the DBM website prominently displayed the Chinese flag with the words “Don’t trouble the Chinese, Don’t play with Fire” displayed below it.
“How come a small b**** border country are overconfident? And challenged to our Chinese super hacker?” the hackers’ message read.
It added: “Remeber: Don’t Trouble Chinese, Don’t Play with Fire. All Members from Silic Group Hacker Army F*ck your mother and all your F8cking families (sic).”
The DBM website is the latest Philippine web property defaced by alleged Chinese hackers in response to the ongoing tensions between the two countries in their respective claims of islands West of the Philippines.
On Monday, Malacañang revealed that several gov.ph websites have come under attack from computer systems whose IP addresses were traced to China. On Friday, the UP System website was also defaced by hackers claiming to be from China.
The government has strongly condemned the cyber attacks, but reiterated that the administration does not condone such actions by local hackers as they do very little in easing the heightening tension between the two countries.
In a statement, Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad said, “at about 2:00 p.m. today, Wednesday, April 25, the website of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) was defaced…our initial findings indicate that all important data in the website remain intact. We are at present conducting a security audit on the site, which will remain offline until the audit has been completed and the necessary repairs are made. In addition, we have yet to establish the true identities of the parties or individuals responsible for the attack.”
“Last week, the DBM made a soft launch of its new website, which was designed to be more user-friendly, navigable, and interactive for web users and visitors. It is fortunate that we shifted to the new platform, which presents fewer security risks than the DBM’s previous content management system,” the statement added.
The DBM website was restored minutes later.
