Another Philippine government website was reported to be breached and defaced by hackers on Sunday, October 15.
According to a report from ABS-CBN, a group calling itself “3MUSKETEERZ” attacked the website of the House of Representatives, leaving a troll face meme with the message “You’ve been hacked” and “Happy April Fullz kahit October pa lang!”
A few minutes later, the website www.congress.gov.ph became inaccessible.
On the same day, House Secretary General Reginald Velasco confirmed that the website experienced “unauthorized access” and issued a statement addressing the incident.
“We wish to inform the public that the official website of the House of Representatives experienced unauthorized access earlier today. Immediate steps have been taken to address the issue, and we are working closely with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC), and law enforcement agencies concerned to investigate the matter,” the House of Representatives said.
“While we work to restore the website fully, we ask for patience and understanding. We are committed to ensure the security and integrity of our digital platforms, and we will implement additional measures to prevent such incidents in the future,” it added.
Velasco also asked the public to be cautious about any suspicious emails or communications that claim to be from the House of Representatives.
“We will keep the public updated as more information becomes available,” it said.
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