SM Malls’ websites come under attack from local hackers

As of 1:17PM, Wednesday, January 25, 2011, the SM Supermalls website is inaccessible

MANILA, Philippines — A number of web properties owned by mall and supermarket chain SM Prime Holdings, Inc. were rendered inaccessible on Wednesday afternoon due to a purported attack by a local supporter of hacktivist group Anonymous.

In a series of Twitter posts, user @cyb3rk4m0t3–which claimed responsibility for the attacks–announced that all of SM’s major websites have come under a Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack.

DDoS is a form of cyber attack used by hacking groups to take down particular websites, and involves overwhelming the website’s server by executing external commands from a number of terminals, which cripple the server indefinitely.

The affected websites include the main SM Supermalls website, the SM Mall of Asia, and SM Department Store.

SM officials contacted by InterAksyon.com have yet to release a statement about the attacks, saying that they would still have to confirm the incident.

@inquirerdotnet @interaksyon All SM Webz are now experiencing a DDoS attack in response to ‘Occupy SM Baguio’! We are Anonymous!

— Mahiwagang Kamote (@cyb3rk4m0t3) January 25, 2012

Later, however, SM management denied of any ongoing cyber attack on their websites. In a text message they said that “the problem was internal.”

The hacker, who affiliated himself with the global hacktivist group Anonymous, claimed that he launched an attack against SM in response to the “Occupy SM Baguio” movement.

The movement seeks to protest the planned earthballing of hundreds of pine trees near the SM City Baguio mall to make way for a seven-story parking and dining building in the area, as part of the company’s expansion plans.

“SM OLIGARCHS! All of your base are TANGO DOWN! Occupy SM Baguio!” the hacker angrily posted on his Twitter account.

Residents of the mountain-resort city have launched a series of protest against the developer’s plans last week, culminating in a mass mobilization on Friday.

Angered protesters have even taken to the Web to air their grievances, even questioning the mall owners’ motives through their official Facebook group.

On Friday, the hashtag #protectBAGUIOtrees even became the top trending topic on social networking site Twitter as supporters of the protest from here and around the world joined in on the call to halt the construction.

In its official statement, the SM Management stressed that the planned development would provide fresh tourism, business and employment opportunities in the city. The parking facility, it said, will help decongest streets around the facility, while the planned roof garden would help in the ecology of the area.

“A rainwater collection system to help control water runoff in and around the property, while providing a secondary water source for the facility’s needs,” it added.