The Philippine Coast Guard on Tuesday said it has already coordinated with Meta after its official Facebook page was hacked earlier this week. 

PCG spokesperson Rear Admiral Armand Balilo said the hacking of their Facebook page may have been due to malicious software, specifically designed to gain illegal access by harming a computer system, network, or server.

“After initial consultation with the Philippine National Police (PNP) Anti-Cybercrime Group, the CGPAS (Coast Guard Public Affairs Service) considers the possibility of online security breach through malware (malicious software),” Balilo told reporters. 

Balilo said the CGPAS is also set to meet with Coast Guard Weapons, Communications, Electronics, and Information System Command to conduct backend operations to recover their social media page.

At around 6:00 p.m. on Monday, the PCG announced that an “unknown entity” had gained access to its official Facebook page. 

The CGPAS likewise monitored two malicious short videos posted on PCG’s social media platform. When the CGPAS tried to delete the videos, Balilo said the service was alerted with a forced switch account notification. 

“As of 6:45 p.m., the CGPAS continues to diagnose via the official Facebook account, Tanod Baybayin, as well as the official CGPAS email address, cgpao@coastguard.gov.ph,” he added.

Citing its CGPAS’ initial diagnostics, Balilo said the hackers “did not leave any digital traces on the official email address and the mobile phone used by the CGPAS to establish a security key as an additional layer of online security protection.”

Balilo noted that the CGPAS last accessed and posted on the official Facebook page at 10:00 a.m. on Monday. 

The PCG also revealed it had foiled the security breach of an unknown entity in its official X (formerly Twitter) account on 15 February. 

Just last month, the PCG received an alert from the Department of Information and Communication Technology regarding the monitored hacking on the PCG website. 

“But upon website review, the CGPAS confirmed that no hacking activity was reported on the PCG website,” said Balilo. 

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