Philippine DOJ hacked

For a few hours on Thursday, visitors to the Department of Justice's website saw a wizard and animated fireworks and heard an amusement park's theme music instead of seeing legal opinions and message from Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez.

Gonzalez confirmed that the DoJ's website was hacked, but was restored past 3 p.m. Nevertheless, he ordered the National Bureau of Investigation to look into the incident given the repercussions of the act.

The DoJ website was hosted by PLDT, which he said has also promised to investigate the incident.

He said that even though the operations of the department were not disrupted as a result of the hacking, the fact that somebody could tamper with government websites posed a threat to other government agencies especially those handling matters related to national security.

"The danger is if there are sensitive matters on the website. It can also be the source of something that will mislead others... Hacking can cause serious disruption of the economy," he said.

A check of the DoJ's website around 2 p.m. showed a purple background with the logo of Enchanted Kingdom, a theme park in Laguna. The website also showed the lighted facade of the amusement park, its wizard mascot and animated fireworks.

Gone were the picture of Gonzalez, his message, the DoJ profile and links to legal opinions and the DoJ directory.

"I think what happened to us here should be a forewarning to all other agencies of the government. The financial institutions will be very important, the security cluster," he said.

He also said hacking was a criminal offense. It is punishable under the e-commerce law.

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