THE National Bureau of Investigation arrested Friday an information technology (IT) officer of the Manila Bulletin for allegedly hacking the websites of the military, the National Security Council, and several banks.
NBI Cybercrime Division Chief Atty. Jeremy Lotoc said the suspect, who was not named, claimed he hacked the websites under the instruction of Manila Bulletin IT Editor Art Samaniego so that the latter could use the information as content for his column and social media platforms.
A case is being prepared against Samaniego, Lotoc said.
The suspect said the Manila Bulletin hired him in 2019 and Samaniego started giving him instructions on which websites to hack.
One of the last instructions he received from Samaniego was to hack the online application of political coalition 1Sambayan.
Samaniego, who is also the Senior Technology Officer of Manila Bulletin Publishing Corp., denied the allegations.
He said that he has been a long-time partner of government agencies in their cybersecurity initiatives.
The Manila Bulletin has yet to issue a statement following the arrest of its employee.
