Vaccine registration website for expats back up after data leak
The Covid-19 vaccination website for foreign residents is back up after an apparent data leak yesterday where others could see personal information, including passport numbers, of those who had registered for a vaccine. The faulty site is live again, but for us at The Thaiger, the button to set an appointment isn’t working.
Posts of the ThailandIntervac.com data leak were shared on social media by local expat blogger Richard Barrow. Under “user information,” other people’s names, passport numbers and locations were displayed. Richard said that when he clicked on the “edit” button, another name with personal details would appear.
“URGENT WARNING: If you are using the thailandintervac.com website to register for a vaccine appointment, please be aware ALL your personal details are freely available.”
The glitch happened while the website’s tech team was revising the coding system to keep up with the demand to allow more people to register for a vaccine, Department of Disease Control Office of International Cooperation director Soawapak Hinjoy wrote in a statement. Soawapwak says the problem was only for 10 minutes. Richard says it was longer.
“The problem had been identified and occurred for 10 minutes. A person who could see other last registrants was the person clicking on the non-general portal of the page. Another reason is that this individual entered the page and opened it until the session expired. The website control system was erroneous. If people make the request normally, they cannot see the list of other people enrolled. Nevertheless, the development of the team has already solved the problem.
The website has a link to report technical issues and says “Some bugs on the website may not safe for other, So please report us immediately and don’t share it to public that would help.”
UPDATE: Following my tweet about the data breach at https://t.co/CQJVuwwiz8, I have received the attached apology from the Office of International Cooperation, Department of Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health. The site is now back up #Thailand pic.twitter.com/06iHlm0gsr
— Richard Barrow (@RichardBarrow) June 14, 2021
