Hacker threatens to publish data of 55 million Thai citizens
A hacker, who goes by the pseudonym of 9Near, threatened to publicly release the personal data of 55 million Thai citizens unless the government contacts the cyberpunk by April 5.
9Near announced on the dark website BreachForums that he had stolen the personal data of 55 million Thai citizens from a government department and was going to sell them.
The stolen data included identification numbers, names, surnames, birthdates, addresses and phone numbers, with a sample of 90 Thai citizens released to validate the threat.
9Near stated that the purchasers of the information could buy the parts of the data they wanted and would need to pay in XMR cryptocurrency.
The hacker then launched its website, 9near.org, yesterday where they have placed a countdown clock and warning messages for the government departments saying…
“WARNING!! If you think the leaked data is from your organisation, contact us before April 5, 4pm GMT+7. Otherwise, we then announce where it came from and how we hacked into it, Also PUBLIC all the data. Almost election, decide wisely. We are not kidding. For POC, send us your name or phone number”
A well-known Thai newsreader, Sorayuth Suthassanachinda, made known to the public yesterday that he received a threatening message from 9Near. His personal information was sent to his phone via SMS. The message read…
“9Near. Check out the leaked data! https://9near.org/ …..Sorayut’s full name, address, and phone numbers…..”
Another news reporter from Voice TV, Chuwat Rerksirisuk, revealed that he also received the same message.
The Minister of Digital Economy and Society, Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn, reported today that the website is operated from abroad. The ministry contacted the website service provider to shut down the site on March 29, but the approval is still in process.
Chaiwut stated that the ministry will collaborate with Internet service providers in Thailand such as AIS, True, and National Telecom Public Company Limited to prohibit access to the 9Near website. The minister also cautioned all hackers that the penalties for this crime are severe.
According to the Computer Act, hackers may face imprisonment of up to five years, while under the Personal Data Protection Act, they may face imprisonment for up to one year and a fine of up to 1 million baht.
As reported in The Matter, this is not the first time that the personal information of a Thai resident has been stolen, and the official department’s data security system has been questioned.
In February of last year, the data of 23,000 students from the Thai University Central Admission System was hacked and sold.
In November of last year, private information of doctors and patients of Phetchabun Hospital was stolen and put on sale for 15,000 baht on the Raid Forum site.
