Coast Guard’s FB page hacked in third cyberattack this year

(REUTERS / file photo)

MANILA, Philippines  – The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) lost access to its Facebook account on Monday evening, the third cyberattack that gripped the maritime security group this year.

At around 6:00 p.m., PCG spokesperson Rear Admiral Armand Balilo said that “an unknown entity gained access on [its] official Facebook page” which was handled by the personnel of the Coast Guard Public Affairs Service (CGPAS).

“The CGPAS monitored two malicious short videos posted on the official Facebook page,” Balilo said in a statement.

“However, when the CGPAS tried to delete the videos, the service was alerted with a forced switch account notification,” he added.

Balilo also said that “the unknown entity did not leave any digital traces on the official email address and the mobile phone used by the CGPAS to establish a security key as an additional layer of online security protection.”

Balilo said the CGPAS  last accessed and posted on its Facebook page at 10:00 a.m.

As of posting, the CGPAS is still trying to regain access on its Facebook page.

On Feb 15, the X page of PCG was temporarily hacked, but access was regained a few hours later.

Last month, the Department of Information and Communications Technology said the website of PCG  and other government websites, were targeted by cyberattacks made from an internet protocol address traced to a location in China.

But Balilo had said that the PCG website remain safe after that hacking attempt.

On Feb. 5, the Chinese Embassy in Manila said that Beijing firmly opposes all forms of cyber attack in accordance with their law.

Also, the embassy slammed Philippine government officials and the media for what they call “highly irresponsible” and “malicious” remarks on the hacking incident.