Filipino hacker group behind cyberattacks vs news sites —NUJP

A Filipino hacker group was behind the recent cyberattacks on various media websites in the country, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) said on Wednesday.

In a statement, the NUJP said Sweden-based digital forensics group Qurium Media has traced the Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks vs. ABS-CBN News, Rappler, and VERA Files to “Pinoy Vendetta” — a group previously praised by the country’s anti-insurgency task force as “computer geniuses” after they took down the website of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

Also victimized by the cyberattacks were Altermidya, Bulatlat, CNN Philippines, GMA Network, Bulgar Online, and TV5, the journalists’ group said.

Kaspersky.com defines DDoS attacks as a type of cyberattack which takes “advantage of the specific capacity limits that apply to any network resources.” It also sends multiple requests to the targeted web source preventing it from functioning properly.

Due to its effect, the NUJP decried such attacks as a “threat to press freedom and the free flow of information” highlighting its importance during the election season.

At least three news outfits—Mindanao Gold Star Daily in Cagayan de Oro, and PressOne.PH and Interaksyon in Manila—temporarily went down on Wednesday due to the cyberattack.

The journalists' group said it remains unclear who is behind the DDoS attacks but underscored these “newsrooms are involved in fact-checking efforts related to the May elections.”—Sundy Locus/AOL, GMA News