The Department of Science and Technology’s Philippine Council for Industry, Energy, and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DOST-PCIEERD) confirmed on Saturday, April 8, that its official Facebook page has been hacked.
In a statement, DOST-PCIEERD, an attached agency of DOST and one of the three sectoral planning councils, stated that the official Facebook page of the council was hacked on April 7, 2023, at 12 a.m.
"As soon as we learned about the incident, we notified Facebook's parent company, Meta. DOST-PCIEERD is working closely with Meta to ensure that our services are not hampered in any way and to regain access to and control over our page," the agency said.
"We are aware of the value of our Facebook page to our clients who want to stay in touch. We want to reassure you that we are making every effort to resolve the problem as soon as possible," it added.
DOST-PCIEERD maintained that data security for its clients is its key concern and that it acknowledges that the page breach may have alarmed and perplexed some of its followers.
It mentioned however, that its services, client information, and systems it deploys were unaffected by this problem and that it will continue to provide the same level of attention and support to its stakeholders.
The agency reminded those who follow their Facebook page to be wary of any odd online posts or behaviors and to report them right away to either DOST-PCIEERD or Facebook.
"We are committed to ensuring that this matter is resolved quickly, effectively, and with the utmost regard for PCIEERD's core values: integrity, innovation, and excellence," the agency further stated.