OVP website 3rd victim of 'Pinoy hacker' group Philker

The website of the Office of the Vice President became the third victim so far of a supposed Filipino hacker group dedicated to explosing vulnerabilities in Philippine websites. Visitors to the OVP website as of 4 a.m. Monday were greeted with a popup message, "Hacked by Blackrain," before the OVP page could load. But unlike past attacks, a second popup message would appear, seemingly greeting a certain Miho. "Hello to Miho! hoi! hoi!" it said. Clicking on the second popup message will bring the visitor to the defaced OVP website - the image of the Philker hacker group. As in its past attacks, Philker claimed it is not trying to damage the site but is getting attention to vulnerabilities of the site. "We are not trying to damage you. We only want to help protect our country's cyberspace by doing what seems to be the most efficient way to get everyone's attention. May this deface serve as a reminder that you always have to look out for intruders. No matter how intelligent and competent your computer personnel are, there will be unethical hackers that are constantly working on breaking in your security," the hackers said in their message. But this time, Philker no longer redirected visitors of the hacked site to its own site. In the OVP's case, Philker's image was placed directly on the OVP site. A check of the site Philker redirects visitors to produced a "Forbidden" message. Philker's first apparent victim was the Philipine Nuclear Research Institute website , last June 13. It struck again June 16, hitting the site of the Food and Drug Administration. The attack came despite the government's disclosure of a plan to review the security of government websites following the attack on the PNRI site. Philker earlier said that while it and online "thieves and terrorists" are "cut from the same cloth," its difference is that "we have good intentions." It said it aims to elevate the Philippines' cyber culture and to "point out and correct the vulnerabilities of Philippine websites," to "protect them from unethical hackers, fraud, false propaganda and other people with malicious intent." It also hinted at future break-ins of other sites, leaving behind a note similar to the international hacktivist group Anonymous. "Expect more from us. We are Philker," it said - a nod to the hacktivist group Anonymous' "Expect us" warning. — RSJ, GMA News