Hackers attacked and defaced late Wednesday afternoon the website of the Philippines News Agency (PNA), with indications the hackers had Chinese affiliations.
The PNA said the hacking occurred at about 5 p.m., but added the website was quickly restored to normal. It gave no further details of the attack.
“PNA editors noticed the hacking at around 5 p.m. but (the PNA site) was immediately restored to normal operation,” it said.
It added that its technical experts are still investigating the incident.
However, it said the hackers claimed to be the “Evil Shadow Team,” and traced their site to http://hackxl96.blogspot.com and http://3cho.sineapp.com.
The hackx196.blogspot.com contained what appeared to be a screenshot of the PNA site defaced with the image of a skeleton giving visitors the middle finger.
It also bore a message indicating the attack was related to the month-old standoff between the Philippines and China in the Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal.
“China's sovereignty the inviolability! South China Sea belongs to China! We from Malaysia Chinese People, China,” read the message on the defaced PNA site.
Earlier Wednesday, hackers hit the website of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, forcing the agency to temporarily redirect visitors to its old website.
A report on dzBB radio quoted PAGASA officials as saying the initial defacing of the PAGASA website showed a “red” screen with “Chinese characters.”
Since the standoff at the Panatag Shoal began last April, pro-China hackers had attacked the University of the Philippines website, claiming China’s sovereignty over the disputed area.
Pro-Philippine hackers struck back, hitting Chinese websites. However, Malacañang called for a stop to the cyber-warfare, saying it does nothing to aid the Philippines’ pursuit of a diplomatic solution. — ELR, GMA News
source: gmanetwork.com