NRSA to consider controversial cyber-security bill

It’s one of the two agenda items slated to be debated at the NRSA meeting at Parliament on Monday.
NRSA chairman Tinnapan Nakata reportedly ordered the meeting to be held.
The other item deals with the promotion of the political culture.
The deliberation will take place at a time when cyber-attacks occurred around the word over the past few days. In Thailand, there is an unconfirmed report of a cyber-attack.
Under the draft bill, the panel would have the power to order private firms to disclose information that may compromise cyber-security and to order both state and private organisations to comply with cyber-security moves.
The bill was proposed by an NRSA committee on mass communications reform headed by ACM Kanit Suwannet.
The NRSA bill is based on a cyber-security bill that Cabinet backed in principle and sent for review by the Council of State and for public hearings. But several details in the NRSA bill differ from the version Cabinet endorsed.
The NRSA version defines “cyber” as activities related to computers, computer systems, communication via computers and computer information.
The bill also defines cyber-security as measures and operations for defending and dealing with and tackling threats that affect computer networks, the Internet, telecom networks, satellite uplink and downlink services and public utility services.
The measures aim to promote national stability, military security, peace and economic security.
The NRSA version of the bill proposes setting up a national cyber-security committee (NCSC) headed by the prime minister or a deputy assigned by the PM.
The defence minister would be the first deputy chairman of the NCSC, with the digital economy and society minister the second deputy chairman.
Six more panel members would be permanent secretaries for Defence, Finance, Transport, Energy, Digital Economy and Society, and the Interior. Three other panellists would be the National Intelligence Agency director, the governor of the Bank of Thailand and the secretary general of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission.
The NRSA bill seeks to establish an Office of the NCSC with the status of a department under the supervision of the prime minister.
The bill would empower the new committee to order state agencies or private firms to change, cancel or stop activities deemed threatening national cyber-security.
If state firms refuse to comply with such an order, their heads would be subject to a disciplinary investigation to be decided by the Cabinet.
The NCSC would also be empowered to seek information from state agencies and private firms. If the private firms do not provide the requested information, the NCSC must seek court orders to force them to comply.
Pol Maj-General Pisit Pao- in, deputy chairman of the NRSA committee on mass communications reform, said the bill is not aimed at controlling information and communications, as speculated on social media.
He said the bill aims to prevent cyber-attacks such as malware that affect banking systems.