Philippine Public Safety College (PPSC)

What Happened

On July 4, 2015, the official website of the Philippine Public Safety College (PPSC) was defaced by the Chinese hacker group 1937 CN Team. The group left a message on the PPSC website that welcomed "the Philippines in the form of negotiations to resolve the South China Sea [row]."

The hackers also demanded that President Benigno Aquino III resign from his post, accusing him of provoking China through the Philippine Government-sponsored documentary "Karapatan sa Dagat" (Right to the Sea), which explained the Philippines' claims to the West Philippine Sea.

The 1937 CN Team threatened: "If Aquino does not step down... Our attack will not stop, we always pay attention to the safety of China's territory!"

Context

The attack came shortly after the two-part broadcast of the Philippine Government documentary "Karapatan sa Dagat," which laid out the Philippines' legal and historical claims to the West Philippine Sea. The PPSC, as a government educational institution training public safety officers, was a symbolic target.

This incident was part of a broader pattern of Chinese hacktivist attacks on Philippine government and educational websites tied to the South China Sea territorial dispute.

How to Prevent This

1. 1.Keep web server software updated — ensure CMS platforms, plugins, and server software are patched against known vulnerabilities
2. 2.Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) — to block common defacement techniques like SQL injection and cross-site scripting
3. 3.Use file integrity monitoring — tools that alert when website files are modified unexpectedly
4. 4.Restrict admin access — use strong passwords, MFA, and IP whitelisting for administrative panels
5. 5.Maintain regular backups — so defaced sites can be quickly restored while the root cause is investigated