PCG finally takes back FB page from hackers

Commodore Armand Balilo, PCG spokesperson

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) regained complete control over its Facebook (FB) page on Thursday, almost three days after unknown hackers once again took over its social media account.

Rear Admiral Armando Balilo, the PCG spokesperson, said in a statement that the agency’s FB page was recovered at 5:45 a.m. after backend operations conducted by the PCG and Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) of the Department of Information and Communications Technology led to the discovery and removal of three hackers with Facebook names Fatima Hasan, Murat Kansu and Vicky Bates.

But the PCG said it has yet to determine if these were real persons.

According to Balilo, the CICC confirmed that the hackers used malware to breach the security of the PCG’s Facebook account on Feb. 26.

He said the CICC would conduct on Friday “a comprehensive hardware check” of all office laptops and computers used by the PCG’s public affairs personnel to access its social media accounts “to remove remaining traces of malware, if any, and strengthen its overall cybersecurity against potential breaches.”

Balilo told the Inquirer on Thursday that no private or confidential information was stolen from the agency’s social media accounts following the hacking incident, the third recorded so far this year. —NESTOR CORRALES