MANILA, Oct. 7, 2012— The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting is tightening its Internet security after hackers attacked the Catholic Church-backed poll watchdog’s website.
The hacking occurred last Sunday at the height of online protests against the controversial Cybercrime Prevention Act in which websites of some key government agencies were also attacked.
Henrietta de Villa, PPCRV chairperson, said their first priority is to strengthen the security of their information technology systems to prevent another attack.
“This is good opportunity to apply necessary security to our website and change our design to make it more attractive and interactive,” De Villa said.
The PPCRV is uncertain whether the attack was connected to the growing fury against the anti-cybercrime law.
But De Villa said she is saddened that some information technology experts are using their skills in a bad way.
“Our IT was really annoyed that even the PPCRV website was not spared from the attack,” she said. “But I told them to view it in a positive way because it means that we are already important.”
“For me, this is also a wakeup call and it’s now the time for us to change our website. The election is also approaching so this is the chance,” added De Villa.
She said the PPCRV website is expected to be back online again this week with its new design and added features like a database of their volunteers. [RL/CBCPNews]
