Hacked police FB account deactivated

THE official Facebook account of Balete Police Station in Aklan province has been deactivated six days after it was supposedly hacked.

Police Officer 2 (PO2) Ma. Jane Vega, Aklan Police Provincial Office (APPO) spokesperson, said that Balete Pnp Taga Protekta account was deactivated on Jan. 8, 2019.

Vega said they referred the matter to the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) Information and Communications Technology (ICT) division which took charge of deactivating the account.

The Balete Police Station learned that its Facebook account and email were compromised after a non-uniformed employee tried to log in on Jan. 2 but could not access their account.

The account was not immediately deactivated while the police station was still trying to recover some of the photographs and other data posted on its account.

The police station learned of the hacking on Jan 6 after they were alerted by some of their Facebook friends that the “hacker” changed the account’s profile picture.

From an imposing picture of Balete’s newly-constructed police station, an unidentified woman in a provocative pose headline its Facebook account.

Inspector Liezel Goboy, Balete police chief, has decided to use Balete PNP’s Police Community Relations (PCR) section’s Facebook account, Balete Pcr Taga Protekta, as their official FB account.

Vega said Senior Superintendent Lope Manlapaz, Aklan police chief, also called for a conference on Jan. 7.

Manlapaz ordered police stations and units to change the password of their social media accounts and email addresses.

He also told police chiefs to limits individuals who can have access to these accounts.

Based on the initial investigation, the hacker’s IP or internet protocol address was traced to Victorias City, Negros Occidental.

The APPO has earlier “extended its apologies to the public concerning this misconduct towards Balete Police Station and Aklan PNP in general.”

Further, “no member of Balete PNP has been held liable for this action. Hence, continuous investigation and technical tracking to identify the poser/ hacker and make him/her liable for all the charges.”

“We will continuously serve and secure the Municipality of Balete despite of everything,” Goboy said.