When a authorities web site gets hacked, one would possibly assume it’s an act of cyber warfare or a government opposition protest group. Remote is way less nefarious. The Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (DES) announced that, out of about 500 cyberattacks on authorities websites final year, two-thirds of the hacks had been to promote online gambling web sites.
According to the DES Minister, gambling websites are illegal in Thailand so can’t promote. But they can enhance their web site hits by hacking their code into public sites which might be authorized. Websites belonging to the public sector then inadvertently pump up the playing site’s number of viewers every time someone appears for services or data on a government website.
According to the minister, academic sites had been among the hackers’ main targets among the many websites of 20 ministries and private sector bodies, followed by these of public well being agencies and local administrative offices.
The hackers centered their attention on non-public sector websites since these sites had been verified by Google, in contrast to on-line gambling web sites which might be prohibited by the government.
The National Cyber Security Agency (NCSA) presented to the Cabinet some options to prevent cyberattacks in the brief and long run, while also monitoring the options of different ministries to deal with the problem.
The NCSA additionally contacted Internet suppliers to get them to take away websites concerned in hacking. They sent proof of cyberattacks by web sites. One notable assault in October grew to become a part of a case in opposition to an internet gambling cartel by the Police Cyber Taskforce (PCT).
The PCT instructed admins of websites should be vigilant in checking web safety and take swift action in opposition to any hint of a hack. Meanwhile, the DES minister warned net users to avoid clicking on any suspicious hyperlinks they may receive via SMS or e mail.
The government has labored with search engines like google to dam or delete links to the web sites from the hacked public sector websites. The DEC minister assured people who the government isn’t endorsing illegal gambling.
“When individuals access some government web sites, they might see advertising for on-line playing and may suppose that we promote these websites, which is not true. Hacking government web sites is against the law.”