Alleged Constitutional Court website hacker tracked down
A 33 year old man in Ubon Ratchathani was arrested today by the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau for allegedly hacking the Constitutional Court website on Wednesday. The man was arrested at his home in Warin Chamrab district of the Northeastern province after an investigation by the CCIB.
The CCIB started an investigation immediately after the hack was reported by the Constitutional Court. Police tracked down the website hacker by tracing the IP number that accessed the Court website, following it to a house in the Saensook sub-district. Investigators were then able to get a warrant approved by the provincial court to search the house to which the IP address was traced.
When police raided the house earlier today, they found a 33 year old man who had a medical science degree from a local university. Police report that during questioning, the man who was identified only by his first name Wachira admitted to hacking the Court website.
The website was hacked and text was changed to display the phrase “kangaroo court” – a slang term for an authority without credibility that ignores rules or laws. The homepage also linked to a music video on YouTube for the song Guillotine by US-based hip-hop group Death Grips.
The content was removed but as of this writing, the Court website was still completely offline. The hack is suspected to be related to the decision the Constitutional Court made on Wednesday that ruled that speeches that protest leaders made during demonstrations in August of last year are considered an attempt to overthrow the constitutional monarchy and is illegal.
The alleged hacker is now in police custody and faces hacking charges under Thailand’s computer crime law. A hacking offence carries a punishment of up to 40,00 baht in fines and between 6 months and 2 years in prison. But if the man is convicted and the court finds that damage was caused by his actions, he could face up to 5 years in prison and up to 100,000 baht in fines.
SOURCE: Thai PBS World
