Philippines seeks arrests of cyber hackers

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MANILA, Philippines, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- The Philippines' top law enforcement officer Wednesday ordered investigators to arrest computer hackers who defaced government websites.

Justice Secretary Leila De Lima ordered the crackdown after eight government websites, including the Central Bank of the Philippines and the Intellectual Property Office, were hacked last week, the Philippine Daily Inquirer.net reported.

De Lima said she had issued a "standing order" for hackers to be hunted down by the National Bureau of Investigation. She said an NBI team was working in coordination with intelligence officers of other investigative agencies.

A group called Anonymous Philippines began a wave of cyber attacks last week protesting the passage of a cyber crimes law.

One of the websites, that of the Police Community Relations Group, was defaced after the Philippine National Police began investigating threatening messages posted to Facebook users by a PNP fan page.