Supporters of hacker group Anonymous Philippines rallied outside of the country's congress Tuesday. -Associated Press
Anonymous Philippines protests in front of parliament, pledges more attacks
Some hundreds of masked members of the hacking group Anonymous Philippines marched in front of the Batasang Pambansa Tuesday (November 5, 2013), denouncing corruption and pledging more cyber-attacks, a week after dozens of government websites were paralyzed.
The hackers - wearing Guy Fawkes masks - faced off with dozens of riot police outside the House of Representatives in suburban Quezon City north of Manila, blocking the road and bringing traffic to a standstill for around an hour.
"We are here today to press for a new system of government," said one of the leaders who did not give his name.
"We are everyone and anyone. We will not go away and we will continue with our activities."
Mostly dressed in black, the hackers chanted anti-government's corruption slogans and held placards that read: "The corrupt fear us, the honest support us, the heroic, join us."
Last weekend, the Anonymous group launched simultaneous cyber-attacks that temporarily paralysed dozens of government websites. Office of the Ombudsman and Philippine Embassy Seoul websites shutdown for at least 2 days.
They defaced the sites with messages calling on the public to support their cause.
The Philippine government says it will prosecute members of the group, but has conceded it is yet to determine their identities.
Global activist network Anonymous has carried out a number of attacks and threats in recent weeks.
The Indonesia group claimed last week it had defaced more than 170 Australian websites while the Singapore government boosted its defenses after a threat.
In the Philippines, the movement is protesting against perceived corruption in the legislature over the misuse of billions of dollars of development funds by politicians.
President Benigno Aquino has been hit by the scandal after Senator Jinggoy Estrada of the senators accused for Million Dolalrs PDAF misused fired back and accused Aquino for bribing the member of the senate and congress to vote against the ousted former chief justice Corona claiming that Aquino was distributing at least ₱50 Million ($1.2 Million Dollars) each.
Last week, with public anger growing, Aquino went on national television to publicly declare that he was "not a thief" in an attempt to head off the growing crisis that threatens to derail his political agenda.
Hackers Strike Singapore but Appears to Fizzle
Members of online hacking collective Anonymous assaults in Singapore websites but failed to materialize during the financial center's business day last week.
Anonymous hackers had purportedly threatened attacks against state-owned information infrastructure; there hadn't been reports of any significant cyber assaults as of 6:30 p.m. local time. The city-state's information-technology regulator on Monday said that state agencies had boosted security in response to the threats, issued last week as a challenge against Singapore's tightening of Internet regulations.
Disruptions occurred Saturday on more than a dozen Singapore government-run websites, resulting in loss of accessibility for several hours, which authorities blamed on technical difficulties that occurred during maintenance. But a self-proclaimed Anonymous member—in an email to U.S. Internet firm Yahoo Inc. Singapore news arm—claimed responsibility for the disruptions, saying members of the hacking group had conducted successful cyber-attacks on government websites.
Tuesday was the date of a global "Million Mask March" planned by Anonymous, a loose collective of activist hackers with a history of attacking government and corporate targets in the U.S. and Australia, Philippines and Singapore. The masks are a reference to stylized masks of Guy Fawkes, the most famous conspirator in a failed plot to blow up the British Parliament in 1605. The incident inspired a 2006 film, "V for Vendetta," in which a mask-wearing hero takes on a repressive government. The film's Fawkes mask has since been adopted by Anonymous and other protesters as a symbol of dissent.
Anonymous Philippines said on its Facebook page that it had infiltrated 115 government websites ahead of Tuesday's protest to criticize legislators and President Benigno Aquino's government over issues of alleged corruption, including the alleged misuse of public funds.
A Philippine government spokesman couldn't confirm the number of affected websites, but said the weekend attacks left only superficial changes and didn't have "any major impact." Administrators were also taking "corrective measures," the spokesman said.
In Singapore, the most recent cyber-attack claimed by Anonymous occurred Friday, when a blog run by Singapore's largest newspaper, the Straits Times, was defaced by a purported Anonymous member. The newspaper's publisher, Singapore Press Holdings confirmed the hacking, and said some of its websites suffered disruptions on Sunday and Monday—the reasons for which remain under investigation.
Anonymous' Indonesian members claimed Sunday to have defaced more than 170 Australia-based websites, mainly run by small businesses and private owners. There was no significant disruption and officials have not commented on the attacks. – With report contribution from Cris Larano and Rhiannon Hoyle / NDTV, Wall Street Journal
