CICC looking at possible link between bomb threats, hacking vs gov't agencies

The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) on Wednesday said it is probing the possible link of the recent hoax bomb threats with hacking attempts against government agencies.

“Iyon ang isa sa mga anggulo na tinitignan natin (That's one of the angles we are looking at),” CICC executive director Alex Ramos told GMA Integrated News’ Unang Balita.

Ramos said the CICC is still gathering information and comparing the cases of recent bomb threats, which targeted around 118 schools and government agencies in different parts of the country.

On Monday, the central office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Quezon City received a bomb threat.

Several government agencies and schools in different provinces such as Bataan, Zambales and Cebualso also received bomb threats on Monday, according to police reports.

Asked about the possible motive of the perpetrator, Ramos said that there were speculations that the email blast of bomb threats occurred during several incidents that were “regional in nature.”

“Dito sa atin, talagang wala pa tayong eksaktong matukoy kung bakit ito pinapadala ("On our part, we have yet to determine the reason why the bomb threats were sent),” Ramos said.

“Maraming kuro-kuro tungkol sa pagsulpot ng kanyang mga mass email na tina-timing sa maraming insidente na regional in nature,” he added.

(There were many speculations that the email blast of bomb threats was timed during several incidents that are regional in nature.)

The alleged sender of the bomb threats was named Takahiro Karasawa from Japan. However, Ramos said they are still verifying if this is the real identity of the perpetrator.

In a similar incident two years ago, Ramos said Japan authorities tracked a certain Takahiro Karasawa but he denied that he was behind the bomb threats and said that he was a victim of identity theft.

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla on Monday ordered the National Bureau of Investigation to investigate the bomb threats made against several government offices.

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Tuesday also said it has started investigating the alleged Japanese who sent bomb threats to government offices.

Takahiro Karasawa had at least four namesakes in the BI database, all of which were not in the Philippines.

The Philippines is already coordinating with Japan for the investigation into the hoax bomb threats.
—KG, GMA Integrated News