Arrest of hackers yields surprise allegations

THE arrest last week of three people for hacking into private and government websites, banks and Facebook accounts yielded an unexpected allegation. One of the suspects, who remained identified only by his code name "Kang Kong," claimed to work in the administrative division of the Manila Bulletin and tagged its technology editor Art Samaniego Jr. as the one who instructed him to look for "vulnerabilities" in unsuspecting websites.

The suspects, presented at a press conference on June 21 by the National Bureau of Investigation-Cybercrime Division (NBI-CCD), were alleged to be members of two big hacking groups: Philippine LulzSec and Globalsec. A third subject with an alias "Allan 10k" will be charged through direct filing, an NBI press statement said.