The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) has successfully fended off the cyberattack suspectedly done by Chinese hackers against the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration's (OWWA) official website, according to the Presidential Communication Office (PCO).
Based on PCO's press release posted on February 3, DICT Usec. Jeff Ian Dy reported that the hackers had attempted to take down OWWA's official website.
“Gusto lang po naming i-report for example na noong mga nakaraang linggo, mayroon pong mga cybersecurity incident or attack na nadepensahan naman natin. Hindi po ito tumuloy pero ito po ay isang klase ng brute force attack upang i-takedown ang ating Overseas Workers Welfare Administration o OWWA kung makikita ninyo sa screen. Uulitin ano, hindi naman ito natuloy kasi we were able to attack it,” he said as quoted by PCO.
The attackers, according to Dy, were allegedly traced at a "command and control center" operating in China Unicom.
The DICT official said they would coordinate with Chinese officials for the investigation.
Dy said the attempted cybersecurity attack in OWWA was "associated with certain state-backed type of cybersecurity activities targeting government’s email addresses particularly the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), National Coast Watch (NCW) and the DICT."
He bared that hackers even tried to attack private domains including President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr.'s official website.
“Ito po ay gumastos nang malaki sa research and development at sa teknolohiya upang itago niya iyong kaniyang gawain kaya tinawag nating advanced persistent threat. Itong klase ng ganitong atake, ang ginagawa lang po nito ay magmanman,” the DICT official noted.
In 2023, the websites of several government agencies fell victim to several cyber threats.
These include the Philippine Health Insurance Corp., the Philippine Statistics Authority, the House of Representatives, the Philippine National Police, and the National Bureau of Investigation.
