Ex-don held for hacking into network

The former head of a business school's IT section was arrested yesterday for hacking into the school's computer network, the National Bureau of Investigation said in a press statement.

Caesar Manalac, 31, was the former head of Information Technology support at Thames International Business School.

NBI anti-fraud agents raided Manalac's house in southern suburban Santa Rosa town and detained him on charges of violating the e-commerce law and qualified theft.

Manalac left the school after he "illegally accessed the system network for the purpose of copying confidential files", said the NBI.

Manalac's arrest was based on the country's e-commerce law, passed two years ago. If convicted, he could be imprisoned for three years and ordered to pay damages.

The Congress passed the e-commerce statute after a group of young college students allegedly uploaded the self-replicating 'ILOVEYOU' virus which attacked many systems worldwide, and resulted in loss estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars.