I got a message from someone who claimed to be a hacker via FB messenger. I asked him (or her) security questions to ascertain that he/she is indeed that someone he/she is claiming to be. After about an hour of exchanging messages, and injecting trap questions, I arrived to the conclusion that the person I am talking to knows a lot about cyber security.
Here’s what we talked about:
1. Hackers are on a rampage, penetrating sites and downloading information while systems administrators are overwhelmed by requests for tech support from employees working from home.
2. That person claimed that thousands of data from educational institutions could be downloaded easily.
3. The same person using the name Infamouz said that together with another hacker named Alita, they have decided to scan servers for weaknesses and secure the sites they found to be vulnerable and in danger of being breached by irresponsible hackers.
4. The duo is working with Philippine Hacking University (PHU) FB group to recover Facebook pages that were taken over by scammers.
5. Most FB pages in the PH were taken over by scammers because of lack of tech knowledge of the admin and because of greed, scammers promise page admins money in exchange of page access. These ignorant and greedy admins immediately give access hoping to get compensation from the scammers.
6. I asked Infamouz why he’s doing this. He replied “Ang layunin ko kaya ko pinasok at inayus yung website e para hindi na mapasa kamay ng mg iresponsableng hackers”
7. This is his message to the IT department of PH companies: “Do not store old data inside the website especially if these data are sensitive. Remember this: personal details like full name and birthday do not expire. You need to strengthen the security of your site if you plan to store sensitive information.
As of this posting, I was informed that Infamouz together with Alita are scanning and securing vulnerable PH sites while the Philippine Hacking University FB group is helping FB page owners to recover their pages from scammers.
Question: do you agree with how Infamouz and Alita help the PH internet community?