NDRRMC website hacked

MANILA, Philippines - The website of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) was defaced yesterday by hackers.

Instead of its usual homepage, the NDRRMC website displayed a black page with a map showing the Persian Gulf, the Persian Sea and the Caspian Sea.

Below the map are yellow-colored letters that read “PERSIAN GULF 4EVER.” Red-lettered words that appear to be the aliases of the hackers were also displayed on the website.

The hackers appeared to mock the website’s manager by placing an e-mail address where one could get “more security.”

“For more security: The Dot Cocain At Engineer Dot Com,” the page read.

The NDRRMC website was restored at about 3:30 p.m.

NDRRMC executive director Benito Ramos condemned the defacing of agency’s website and called on the hackers to refrain from such activities.

“The hackers should spare our website. This is being used to save lives and property,” Ramos said in an interview

The NDRRMC website has been hacked four times already.

Last year, the site of then National Disaster Coordinating Council was defaced at a time when updates on tropical storm “Domeng” were being monitored.

Instead of the normal page which contained reports on storms and other disasters, the homepage displayed a photo of a lady wearing a Yankees sweat shirt and holding a gun.

Placed below the photo was a text which read “Down by xTerror.” The homepage also contained the e-mail address [email protected] mailto:[email protected], believed to be owned by the hacker.

Last month, hackers defaced the websites of the Office of the Vice President and the Food and Drug Administration.

The group, which called itself “PrivateX,” wished President Aquino good luck on his second State of the Nation Address.

Ombudsman’s website gets facelift

The Office of the Ombudsman’s official website (www.ombudsman.gov.ph) is undergoing an overhaul to make it look more serious in leading the fight against graft and corruption in government.

With Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales now leading the anti-graft agency, pictures of former officials, including Merceditas Gutierrez, have been removed.

The website’s fancy introduction, which used to feature a slideshow of photographs, has also been detached supposedly to give the public direct access to online services without sideshows.

The Ombudsman’s website now features a more serious page with the theme “Imbestigahan, Sibakin, at Panagutin ang Tiwali” and a picture of the Office of the Ombudsman’s central office building in Quezon City.

Apart from press releases, podcasts of a weekly radio program, and other basic links, the website also offers the public access to requests for assistance, filing of complaints, and clearance applications online.

It likewise gives the public a hotline number, contact details for lifestyle check requests, and hotline numbers of the agency’s anti-fixer campaign.

Barely a week in office, the new chief graft-buster has not yet given the media a chance to know her better.

Sources said the retired Supreme Court justice engaged herself in meetings and staff briefings during her first five days as Ombudsman. With Michael Punongbayan