Security News > 2021 > July > Digital rights org claims cyberattacks against Filipino media outlets come from government and army

Qurium Media Foundation has reported a campaign of DDoS attacks on Filipino media outlets and human rights organisations that appear to be coming from the country's Department of Science and Technology and Army.

"During the past month, Qurium has received brief but frequent denial attacks against the Philippine alternative media outlets Bulatlat and AlterMidya, as well as the human rights group Karapatan," said the Swedish digital rights, data protection, and internet security NGO in its online report.

A closer look by Qurium into the DOST machine's network revealed an identical firewall configuration, suggesting action from another machine from within the organisation.

The attacks come at a time when the three targets reported about potential investigations into crimes against humanity for drug war killings, as well as low mass testing for COVID-19, and other items critical of Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte.

DOST originally denied involvement but said that the organisation assists "Other government agencies by allowing the use of some of its IP addresses in the local networks of other government agencies."

On 1 July, DOST's Rowena Guevara refused to name the office within the department linked to the cyberattacks in an interview with Filipino news outlet ABS-CBN, claiming it was part of an ongoing investigation.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2021/07/02/ddos_attack_philippines_dost/