NBI operatives arrest 3 hacking suspects in Manila

MANILA, Philippines — The National Bureau of Investigation-Cybercrime Division (NBI-CCD) arrested three people for hacking into private and government websites, banks, and Facebook accounts.

The case stemmed from numerous information regarding recent incidents involving multiple unauthorized access attempts and breaches of private and government websites.

To gather information crucial to identifying and apprehending the subjects, NBI-CCD tracked the movements of the identified hacker. Operatives likewise monitored online activities and gathered data from various sources like social media, forums, and public databases to establish patterns and connections linked to the hacker's activities.

HACKERS HACKED National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Jaime Santiago and NBI Cybercrime Division Chief Jeremy Lotoc present three suspected hackers of private and government websites, as well as banks and Facebook accounts. The suspects face charges under Republic Act (RA) 10175, also known as the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, and RA 10173, or the Data Privacy Act of 2012. PHOTO BY ISMAEL DE JUAN

On June 14, an initial contact with the suspected hacker was made through the informant. The suspect agreed to meet and told the informant that he had a project and that he would include him in it and the particulars would be discussed upon their meeting.

On June 19, the suspect sent hacked Facebook accounts, which included email addresses and passwords, implying that the suspect had successfully accessed the database of his subject. In the afternoon of the same day, a meet-up with the suspect was set in a hotel in Manila.

After announcing their authority and the reason for the arrest, CCD operatives conducted a hot pursuit, which resulted in the arrest of two suspected hackers.

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Controlled viewing of the phone seized from one of the suspects showed that it contained scripts and databases obtained from LGU and various government websites, as well as Facebook users' credentials.

Moreover, the phone contained data related to hacked banks including the Philippine National Bank, Security Bank, Banco de Oro, and UnionBank. These highlighted the extent of the digital