DoJ softpedals on China cyberspy probe

03/31/2009

The Department of Justice (DoJ) yesterday said it would look into the reported eavesdropping by a China-based cyber spy network on Philippine government computer network, which uncovered classified information, but only if the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) asks it to.

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said if it the reports of the network hacking is true, it would have national security implications.

“That will affect national security, certainly,” he said, adding the Philippine government could opt to file charges against those behind the hacking.

“(But) we must first authenticate if there (indeed) has been hacking,” he, though, stressed.

National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales earlier said he has yet to receive official report on the the alleged cyberspace hacking but his office would try to validate it and identify which particular computer system was compromised.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), which was reportedly the one “hit” by the hacking, has said that it will seriously look into the matter, as it vowed to take steps to strengthen its computer system to avoid such attacks.

In a statement, the DFA said it is already checking the veracity of the report published by Canada-based Information Warfare Monitor (IWM), which said it had discovered a cyber espionage network based in China that has hacked computers and database systems of 103 countries and private organizations, including that of the Dalai Lama and Tibetan exiles.

The hacking involved over 1,295 compromised computers, among which were from the ministries of foreign affairs of the Philippines, Iran, Bangladesh, Latvia, Indonesia, Brunei, Barbados and Bhutan. The IWM also said it discovered hacked systems in the embassies of India, South Korea, Indonesia, Romania, Cyprus, Malta, Thailand, Taiwan, Portugal, Germany and Pakistan.

Once the hackers infiltrate the systems, they gain control using malicious software or “malware,” which they install in the compromised computers, and send and receive data from them, the IWM researchers said.

“The DFA takes seriously, reports such as this, and will carefully look into its details, including the methodologies used to arrive at their observation,” the DFA said.

The DFA, though, refused to say whether it had knowledge of its data system having been “attacked” by hackers in the past.

“As part of due diligence, we will undertake all measures to maintain and ensure the integrity of our IT systems,” it merely stressed.

The IWM is composed of researchers from Ottawa-based think tank SecDev Group and University of Toronto’s Munk Center for International Studies.

Benjamin B. Pulta and Michaela P. del Callar

Back to top

For comments about this website:Webmaster@tribune.net.ph
The Daily Tribune © 2006