What Happened
On June 17, 2020, Tarlac Agricultural University's student portal (tau.edu.ph) was breached by the hacker group Pinoy Grayhats. The attack was part of a coordinated campaign targeting multiple Philippine universities on the same day, including FEU, Cebu Normal University, University of St. La Salle, ICCT Colleges, and AMA University.
Broader Context
TAU was one of over 20 Philippine schools hacked in June 2020 alone. The attacks coincided with the transition to online education during the COVID-19 pandemic.
How to Prevent This
- 1.Conduct penetration testing before deploying student portals — especially when transitioning systems online rapidly
- 2.Use parameterized queries — prevent SQL injection attacks
- 3.Implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) — to block common web attacks
- 4.Enforce strong authentication — require MFA for all admin accounts
- 5.Keep all server software updated — patch known vulnerabilities promptly
Sources & References
All sources are independently verified. Access dates and archive links are recorded for each citation.
- [1]Manila Bulletin — Anatomy of a hack: How hackers breached vulnerable PH schools — TAU mentioned (July 1, 2020)
- [2]Secuna Blog — More than 20 Philippine schools hacked just this June — TAU listed among affected institutions
- [3]GitHub (ajdumanhug/gothacked) — Registry of Philippine school hacking incidents — TAU listed June 17, 2020 by Pinoy Grayhats