While Western governments are still reeling from unwanted hacking incidents, Asia is getting its share of X-rated trouble. Just this weekend, the official Web site of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) of the Philippines was reported to be littered with links that redirect users to adult-themed Web pages. The Web site has since been wiped clean of the said malicious ads.

The “Past Events” page in the events section of the said Web site bore pharmaceutical and pornographic ads. These included Viagra Online Pharmacy, Order Viagra, Cialis Online, Microbikini, 2Sex Maniac, Underage Sex, Sexual Photos, Sex Party and Wild Sex. The other posted events were dated Sept 29 and 30, indicating the relative recency of the malicious posting.

Incidentally, this hacking incident came in the wake of a controversial multi-million dollar contract entered into by the Philippine government for a National Broadband Network. The Chinese IT firm ZTE Corp. was supposed to provide the infrastructure for the said project. However, allegations of bribery, as testified by a former NEDA chief, eventually forced Philippine President Gloria Arroyo to cancel the deal on October 2.

Other .gov.ph Web sites likewise fell victim to hackers. An example is the message board section of the Web site for the Philippine Department of Health, which was riddled with possible malicious links. The following are screenshots of the said Web site:

As of this writing, the said links are still present in the message boards.

The wave of attacks on government Web sites clearly emphasize the trend of cyber warfare—a subtle but obvious form of retaliation from warring parties. Even if such incidents are only meant as jokes or ego-tripping, institutions should nevertheless take this as a dire warning of more devious things to come.

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