OVP site hacked again

(Updated 12:05 p.m.) One month after being hit by hackers, the Office of the Vice President's website was attacked anew Friday, with visitors being made to click through two popup boxes before getting access to the site. While the OVP site did not appear to be defaced, the two popup boxes indicated its security has much room for improvement. The website, however, appeared to revert to normal as of 11 a.m., with no sign of the two attacks hours earlier. "(S)till vuln?fix it," read the message on the first popup message - apparently referring to the vulnerable security of the site. Once a visitor clicks on the "Ok" button, he or she will be taken to a second popup message that reads, "Hacked by PrivateX." A visitor can get to the OVP site only after clicking on the second popup page. The hack came a month after the OVP website was attacked by a Filipino hacker group supposedly dedicated to exposing vulnerabilities in Philippine websites. Last June 20, visitors to the OVP website were greeted with a popup message, "Hacked by Blackrain," before the OVP page could load. 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. Philker, which attacked other government websites, 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. Philker's first apparent victim was the Philippine 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. — RSJ/LBG, GMA News