NBI nabs hacker of 370 PH gov’t websites
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) arrested a hacker who allegedly defaced at least 370 government websites last month, according to a statement posted on the agency’s Facebook page.
The NBI operatives arrested the unnamed suspect in a hot pursuit operation in Tagaytay City last September after an informant informed the bureau about the hacker’s location.
The NBI made the arrest on the grounds of misuse of a device and aiding or abetting in the commission of cybercrime under the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, known as Republic Act No. 10175, as well as for unauthorized access or intentional breach under the Data Privacy Act of 2012, or RA 10173.
The hacker was responsible for defacing multiple websites, including 370 Philippine government websites, over the course of several years.
The NBI’s cybercrime division has been receiving a lot of information about unauthorized access attempts and breaches of private and government websites, which has led them to monitor suspect activities using open-source intelligence techniques.
Open-source intelligence involves collecting data from publicly or commercially available information, according to the US Department of Defense.
‘Deathnote Hackers’
The NBI said the hacker was also part of a group called “Deathnote Hackers,” which is known for conducting cyber protests or “hacktivism” in the country.
Last August, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) reported that the Deathnote Hackers had infiltrated the Senate website and were able to extract employee usernames and logs, although the government agency clarified that no sensitive or confidential information was affected.
The same group was also behind a data breach in the Bureau of Customs last April, where 4.5 gigabytes of data were compromised, according to the DICT.
