PNoy website password cracked in 3 days: hacker

MANILA - Local hackers took only 3 days to crack the encrypted password of the official website of the Office of the President, a member of Anonymous Philippines revealed Thursday.

Local netizen #pR.is0n3r said members of Anonymous Philippines were able to detect a vulnerability in the President's website, which allowed them to get more technical information on the site including a username.

He said local "Anons" spent 3 days to reveal and crack the site's encrypted password, allowing them to post a message on the official website for 6 hours.

In the message, local hackers criticized how the President has been handling the conflict in Sabah.

“We are silent witnesses as to how you are mishandling the Sabah issue. We did not engage the Malaysian hackers who invaded our cyberspace since we expected you to appropriately and judiciously act on the same, but you failed us,” the message read.

“You did nothing while our fellow brothers are being butchered by the Malaysian forces, and while our women and children become subject of human rights abuses. If you can’t act on the issue as the Philippine President, at least do something as a fellow Filipino. We are watching,” it added.

The Presidential Communications Operations Office confirmed the official website was breached at around 1 a.m. Thursday.

"We detected a breach when an errant sentence critical of the government on the Sabah issue was found to have been inserted in one of the news items within the website. No further intrusions were made as the internal security protocols were activated," PCOO Secretary Sonny Coloma said in a statement.

He said protection measures will be put in place to prevent further defacement.

#pR.is0n3r said the Philippine government should not focus on the defacement but the message of the hackers.

Asked if they are afraid of getting caught, he said: "If speaking up against idiocy in government and unconstitutional amendments is a crime, then I am proud to be a cyber criminal."

He also said even if one of them is caught, other hackers would continue to support their cause.

Members of Anonymous Philippines earlier hacked several local websites to protest controversial provisions of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012. The Supreme Court has yet to rule on several petitions to strike down the controversial provisions.