Manila: Hackers defaced a major government emergency bulletin website, higlighting concerns over the susceptibility of the country's web-based quick response mechanisms to malicious attacks.
The website of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) was breached by hackers before dawn Sunday causing visitors to be redirected to a website with a map of Central Asia and the Arabian Gulf.
The message came with a tagline that read "Hacked by Cocain TeaM."
On its Facebook fan page, the NDRRMC advised its followers that its website was down after having been hacked.
Months after it was put in service, the emergency disaster information website had been relied on by Filipinos as source of vital and potentially life-saving notices. The government has put up the website as a fast and efficient means to get messages to Filipinos during times of disasters and calamities — given the country's susceptibility to destructive typhoons, flooding landslides, earthquakes.
In this particular incident, there was clear intention of mischief by perpetrators that could, at worst, cause panic and hysteria.
"We appeal to all to please refrain from attacking the site. What's your point in disrupting [the] flow of information. Lives and livelihoods are at stake," the NDRRMC asked.
