The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) has issued a statement labeling as “unfounded” and “false” an online report that it is involved in an DDoS (denial of service attack) against local alternative media.
The DOST was responding to the story carried by online news outfit Rappler, which quoted a report from Sweden-based digital forensics nonprofit Qurium Media that claimed to have found links to the DOST and the military regarding a recent DDoS attacks on alternative media outlets Bulatlat and Altermidya, as well as human rights group Karapatan.
The Rappler said one attack originated from a machine with an IP address (202.90.137.42) that belongs to the Philippine Research, Education, and Government Information Network (PREGINET), a project under the DOST.
“It has been mentioned in the news that the IP address used to initiate recent alleged cyber-attacks towards some media was traced to the DOST. The implication of DOST’s involvement in said cyber-attacks is unfounded and patently false,” the agency said in a statement on Thursday, June 24.
The science agency said the Advanced Science and Technology Institute (ASTI), which is one of its attached unit, is part of a larger government network that assists other government agencies by allowing the use of some of its IP addresses in the local networks of other government agencies.
“Given this, the statement that DOST potentially took part in initiating the alleged cyber-attacks is false. This statement was solely based on the tracked IP address and does not translate to the Department’s involvement in the matter,” it said.
