OPINION: Swedish Foundation Confirms Concentrated Tech Attach vs Peoples Organizations, Alternative Media

Since late December of 2018 to the first quarter of 2019, various websites of organizations in the Philippines composed of alternative media, human rights organizations, journalists associations, etc. have been under sustained CyberAttacks in the form of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. This is now confirmed as reported in the forensic investigation recently released by Sweden-based Qurium Media Foundation [1].

According to their report, exposed IP addresses of the attackers trace them to IP Converge Data Services and Suniway Group of Companies. Both are cloud and internet service providers physically based in Manila and Hong Kong respectively. Their initial attacks are backed up by political motivation based from the message trail from their conversations.

DDos is a type of CyberAttack that attempts to overload a system and eventually shut it down. Shutting down the websites of alternative media and progressive organizations will deny audiences of legitimate reports.

One common denominator why these organizations were targeted for attack is their critical stance against the Duterte regime. These organizations have voiced out and believe that these attacks are part of Duterte’s regime to stifle press freedom and fortify his dictatorship rule. As much has been deduced by the Quirium report.

On a positive note, we extend gratitude to Quirium Media Foundation for proactively backing up peoples’ organizations and therefore strengthening international solidarity among advocates fighting against unwarranted censorship and dissent suppression.

The Computer Professionals’ Union encourages individuals, organizations and advocates from the IT sector to stand against political repression and CyberAttacks that stifle legitimate dissent. We urge our fellow techs to join us in advocating for technology in the service of the Filipino people.

Albert Yumol
Program Coordinator
Computer Professionals’ Union

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