Hackers again breach Coast Guard’s internet sites

Unknown hackers again attacked the Facebook page of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Friday, the fourth cyberattack against the agency’s social media and website this year.

Rear Adm. Armand Balilo, spokesperson for the PCG, said in a statement that an “unknown entity gained access” to the agency’s FB page at about 12:30 p.m. on Friday.

As of Saturday afternoon, the hackers had already posted at least nine “malicious short videos.”

Balilo said the PCG had already coordinated with the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and Meta, the parent company of FB “to conduct backend operations and assess the security breach.”

Hackers also gained access to PCG’s Facebook page in February, less than two weeks since hackers also gained access to its official X (formerly Twitter) account.During the Feb. 15 attack on its X account, hackers wiped out the PCG’s entire page contents, including its logo and profile picture, although these were “retrieved” about five hours later.In January this year, the DICT blocked cyberattacks reportedly “from within China” against the mailboxes and Google Workspaces of the PCG’s National Coast Watch.

As of 4 p.m. on Saturday, the PCG has not regained access to its FB page.

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China, which has a decades-long maritime dispute with the Philippines over parts of the South China Sea, has denied any involvement in that attack.

The hacking incidents happened as tensions between Manila and Beijing in continue to escalate in the West Philippine Sea. INQ