Thailand fights IT threats
ThaiCERT, a unit under the Electronic Transactions Development Agency, will become more offensive in fighting electronic transaction threats with greater focus on particular groups of users like financial institutions and government agencies.
In the next 6 months, the 24-hour call centre will be set up to receive complaints from the groups of users.
"Thailand’s entry into the IT-based smart business era requires technical supports from the government units to ensure safety. ThaiCERT next year will be the key unit to monitor all types of electronic threats and come up with preventive measures," said ICT Minister Anudith Nakornthap at a press conference on Dec 22.
Set up on July 1, ThaiCERT has received average 100 notifications from local and foreign users per month. Forty eight per cent involved frauds, particularly "phishing" or e-mails distributed to draw funds. Intrusions posed another big threat, including abusive content (9.9 per cent), malicious code (9.9 per cent), and SPAM.
According to Anudith, the unit has worked with notifiers to deal with 80 per cent of the complaints and monitored the rest with update reports every three days.
The minister noted that electronic threats have been handled effectively with cooperation from all involved, including the associations involved with E-commerce and web site operators, the Thai Bankers Association, the Department of Special Investigation. At present, the monitoring network has encompassed 10,000 members.
According to the Electronic Transaction Development Agency, Thailand has witnessed an expansion in E-commerce, with combined transaction value of Bt629 billion in 2010 or a 19 per cent increase from the previous year. While public biddings contributed Bt341 billion, the remaing Bt288 billion was generated by private transactions.
