Blocking bad clicks: DES ramps up crackdown on shady sites

The Digital Economy and Society Ministry (DES) has significantly ramped up efforts to curb access to illicit online content, blocking 138,660 attempts to access unlawful social media pages and website URLs over the past 11 months. This marks an 11-fold increase compared to the same period last year.

The DES, led by Prasert Jantararuangtong, has concentrated on fighting cybercrime by restricting access to illegal social media platforms, pages, and URLs. An operations team has been set up to monitor, manage, and enhance site-blocking measures.

From October 1 last year, to August 31, statistics reveal that the DES blocked 138,660 illicit social media pages and URLs, a sharp rise from the 12,611 blocked during the same period in the previous year, reported Bangkok Post.

Fraud has emerged as the most prevalent cybercrime, with the ministry blocking 47,471 page views related to fraudulent activities, nearly eight times more than in the previous year. Additionally, there were 11,948 blocked access attempts for pornographic content.

In related news, Thailand is poised to bolster its cyber warfare capabilities with the establishment of a dedicated cyber-command unit by October. This initiative, revealed by Jirayu Huangsap, spokesman for Defence Minister Sutin Klungsang, aims to strengthen the country’s defence against emerging digital threats.

General Songwit Noonphakdi, commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Armed Forces (RTAF), has been tasked with creating the unit following a recent Defence Council meeting chaired by Sutin. The meeting addressed the growing threats posed by modern technology to security agencies globally and explored ways to enhance Thailand’s cyber defences.

The new RTAF cyber-command unit is expected to be operational in October, with support from state agencies across the three branches of the armed forces. The structure of the army’s cyber and digital technology units will be revised, including the addition of an electronic warfare division to the navy’s cyber centre.