MANILA —The House of Representatives on Tuesday took down its website due to "suspicious and unusual activities", just days after it was defaced last weekend.

House Secretary General Reginald Velasco said taking down the website was a precautionary measure to reinforce cybersecurity measures and ensure there were no vulnerabilities.

"We regret to inform the public that the official website of the House of Representatives has been voluntarily taken offline once again. Despite our recent security enhancements, we have detected suspicious and unusual activities that necessitate further scrutiny," Velasco said in a statement to media.

"Our primary concern is to guarantee the safety, integrity, and reliability of our digital platform for the citizens we serve," he said in a statement.

Velasco sought understanding from the public and said the House would provide updates soon.

• Hackers deface House of Representatives website

UNUSUAL WEBSITE TRAFFIC

On Sunday, the House took down its website after it was plastered with the "trollface" meme. The chamber denied any hacking and added that there was no data breach.

The website was restored on Monday and immediately received a deluge of visitors, some of which were from other countries, Velasco said.

• House website back up after hacking; probe continues

"Sinarado natin temporarily until we're sure na legit yung mga nag-a-access ngayon," the official said.

"Remember ang problema namin di lang yun website... Kung yun front page lang, they can put any images there. Pero ang worry namin pag na-penetrate nila, pwede nila baguhin yung information doon to create problems and chaos," he said.

Arnold de Castro, a director in Velasco's office who is in charge of information technology needs, explained that an overnight scan found backdoors that hackers could exploit.

"We opted na i-down na muna siya (website) 'til we harden the system with securities. And hopefully, if we can harden the security itong maghapon, we can put it back up siguro later tonight," De Castro said.

De Castro said they were not yet sure if the latest suspicious activity was connected to those who defaced the website last Sunday. The higher website traffic could have been caused by visitors who were curious with the defacement.

OUTSOURCING

Velasco said the House was studying outsourcing its cybersecurity needs.

"The recommendation is to consider the possibility of outsourcing. Meron kaming iha-hire na third party to help us improve our cybersecurity and to rectify all these responsibilities na na-disover ng DICT, na yung websites namin and then all our data na digitized, all vulnerable to hacking," Velasco said on Monday.

"We have to admit, kulang kami ng cybersecurity experts. We have an IT group which we're trying to build up pero baka kulang yung time namin to recruit people to ensure na ma-address yung mga vulnerabilities na na-discover ng DICT," he said.

The House believes Sunday's defacement of its website could be followed by more cyberattacks.

"What we're sure of is this is the first serious threat... Parang kumbaga sinampolan na eh, although the damage is really minimal," Velasco said.

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