Hospital Hackers
A group of hackers on Sunday hacked into the official website of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Hospital in Manila, Philippines, the URL of which is followed – http://www.usthospital.com.ph/.
It was reported that this mischief was made as a mark of protest against the alleged denial of admission to a pregnant woman who was in her labour contractions. Such an incident of negligence, which was supposedly carried out by a resident doctor named Ana Liezel Sahagun, eventually led to the baby’s death.
The ‘Global Security Hackers’ who have claimed responsibility for the intrusion, are said to be supported by other hackers’ groups like Anonymous Philippines, Philippine Hacking University and Philippine Hacking Academy.
They are a group of 19 hackers who attacked the University of Santo Tomas Hospital’s website after they came across a Facebook post by a netizen named Andrew Palayo, who is the husband of the victimised woman, Sierra Palayo. It was alleged that such an incident took place because the pregnant woman did not have enough money to get admitted to the hospital.
Motives
The hack was an act of support from the hackers’ group who condemned the resident’s move to deny admission to a woman in labour, just because she did not have P 20,000 to pay as a deposit amount. As a doctor, she thus failed to perform her duty towards her patient.
In a message released by the ‘Global Security Hackers, they said in their local tongue,
“Ang pangyayaring ito ay pumukaw sa aming attention,Napakamali ng iyong ginawa Dra.Sahagun Sumumpa ka sa iyong tungkulin para magligtas ng Buhay,Hindi Unahin ang Pera,Isa itong malaking paglabag sa iyong Sinumpaang Tungkulin at Hindi namin ito hahayaan na mabali wala lang. [sic].”
The group also demanded that the hospital looks into the matter and conduct a thorough investigation to reach a conclusion. They shared the link to the hacked website on their Facebook Page, and as a comment to a netizen who questioned the purpose of such a hack, they said:
“It’s just our mission to expose wrongdoings and to stand with the oppressed. Yes, it’s a hospital, but we’re against its “inhumane” rules. Money can’t buy a life.”
One can’t deny that they had their intentions at the right place although one can argue as to whether this could have solved in another a manner. The hackers’ group also demanded the media to help them spread the message of such wrongdoing on the internet.
