DND directs AFP to probe 'strange' recruitment of military consultants
The Department of National Defense (DND) ordered the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to investigate social media pages and websites engaged in the suspicious recruitment of military consultants.
DND Spokesperson Director Arsenio Andolong confirmed that they have monitored reports about a strange online recruitment effort targeting military consultants on social media.
“Yes, we did pick up the activity. I cannot talk about it because it’s a new issue, but the AFP has been given a guidance to investigate and to look into this particular modus operandi,” Andolong said on Monday, April 8.
The Manila Bulletin earlier bared that a group operating on Facebook has been actively seeking part-time military consultants “to engage in various tasks, including writing weekly reports on military life and addressing hot military topics.”
Manila Bulletin Technology Editor and Information Technology (IT) head Art Samaniego Jr. said the group has been using a Facebook page which claims affiliation with a United Statesbased military advertising agency.
The US agency, however, denied being connected with the group, according to Samaniego.
Samaniego also used WHOIS tools which revealed that the email domain registrar of the group and the servers associated with its domain were “located in China.”
WHOIS is a protocol used to query databases that store the registered users or assignees of an Internet resource, such as a domain name, an IP (internet protocol) address block, or an autonomous system, Samaniego explained.
However, the group maintained that they are a Us-based company, according to Samaniego.
The issue comes at a crucial time as the websites and social media accounts of several government agencies are being hacked.
AFP chief, General Romeo Brawner Jr., admitted that the military organization has already taken notice of this activity.
“We are still in the process of checking this,” he said.
The Manila Bulletin tried to contact the major service units of the AFP – the Philippine Army, Philippine Navy, and Philippine Air Force – to check if they have also monitored the cyber activity.