Villar Alarmed Over Hacking of Gov't Websites
Websites of Comelec, DoH, DOLE, NDCC and others simultaneously hacked

Nacionalista Party President Senator Manny Villar expresses alarm over the recent simultaneous hacking of government websites including that of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), which has repeatedly assured the public that its website cannot be hacked.

"Reports have reached my office that a number of government websites including the Comelec's has been hacked the week before New Year's Day. This is really a cause for alarm considering that we are going to have the first nationwide automated elections in May. This might compromise the security and safety of the automated ballots or votes," said Villar.

Villar's own staff tried accessing the website of the Comelec (www.comelec.gov.ph) that week (week of December 27) but to no avail, only a blank screen appeared. Messages such as "the connection to the server was reset while the page was loading" and "the network link was interrupted while negotiating a connection. Please try again," were intermittently flashed on the screen.

According to Villar, the Comelec should give assurance or guarantee to the voters as well as the candidates that the integrity of the votes in the upcoming May elections will not be compromised by hackers or cyber-attacks as it will surely cause chaos and trouble.

The recent Comelec website hacking was in fact not the first. In September last year, its blog site (bagong botante) was also hacked. Although Comelec officials were quick to reassure the public that the blog site is not a critical part of the poll automation system. It also cited then that the online system for the election process is tightly guarded and remains secure.

"The authorities need to get to the bottom of these hacking incidents. It is not enough that the websites are up and running again, the perpetrators or the hackers should be penalized to the full measure of the law," said Villar. Malacanang also acknowledged the said cyber attacks, which it said could become a national security concern.

On December 29, the website of the Department of Health was also hacked. One of its pages was posted with an obscene image and defamatory statements about DoH Secretary Francisco Duque III. Earlier this week (January 4), hackers also defaced the website of the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC).