NationThailand-Aug 6
Thai authorities have launched a cross-agency investigation into unauthorized access to government databases after personal information linked to members of the public, the prime minister, cabinet ministers and senior officials appeared online. The latest incident involved vehicle-registration information held by the Department of Land Transport (DLT), renewing questions over whether government agencies have adequate safeguards for personal data. It followed an earlier incident in which information involving about 200,000 investors was exposed from more than five million shareholder accounts maintained by Thailand Securities Depository Co Ltd. Police Colonel Surapong Plengkham, secretary-general of the Personal Data Protection Committee (PDPC), said the agency immediately coordinated with relevant authorities after receiving a report about the DLT case. The preliminary investigation indicated that fraud networks had unlawfully created and circulated data or channels providing access to protected databases. The conduct appeared more consistent with unauthorized access to protected computer data under Section 7 of the Computer Crime Act than with a database leak in the conventional sense, he said. The PDPC nevertheless acknowledged the need to protect the public by identifying the source of the information, determining how the systems were accessed and tracing networks involved in the illegal trade in personal data. The PDPC also warned members of the public, page administrators and social-media users not to test, download, forward or republish the information because doing so could constitute an offence. Read more at:
