The Senate confirmed on Thursday that its official website fell victim to an unauthorized modification, a cyber incident commonly known as website defacement.
According to the Senate Electronic Data Processing and Management Information System Bureau (EDP-MIS), the breach prompted an immediate investigation and the enforcement of stricter cybersecurity protocols. The platform was subsequently placed under maintenance.
“We would like to inform the public that the Senate website was recently subjected to an unauthorized modification, commonly referred to as a website defacement,” the bureau stated.
The technical team managed to isolate the breach shortly after it was detected. Officials are currently reviewing the system to identify the vulnerabilities exploited by the hackers.
“Upon detection of the incident, our technical team immediately initiated security protocols, contained the issue, and commenced a comprehensive investigation to determine the cause and extent of the unauthorized activity,” the Senate explained.
A group calling itself “Nullsec Philippines” claimed responsibility for defacing a page on the legislative chamber’s portal. The breach became apparent after a series of bizarre test posts surfaced under the website’s “News Release” tab on June 10 and June 11.
The unauthorized posts featured the names “Angelica” and “Ashley,” with messages such as “Your system has been tralalelo tralala” and “Angelica X Ashley, please patch your system ;pp,” alongside a link to a Facebook profile.
Despite the intrusion, the EDP-MIS assured the public that no critical data was leaked, as the portal primarily hosts public records.
“Additional security measures are also being implemented to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future,” the bureau added.
“We assure the public that protecting the integrity and availability of our systems remains a top priority. We continue to closely monitor the situation and will provide updates as necessary.”