Breach investigated by ThaiCERT
Online gamblers in Thailand have been informed of a potential breach of their personal data. This relates to Thai residents who have created an account with online gambling operators that are based overseas.
This warning was issued by the Thailand Computer Security Coordination Center (ThaiCERT). The issue was discovered in
foreign database systems which overlap with gambling websites.”
ThaiCERT conducted an investigation into this leaked database containing the personal data of about 41 million people across the world. The specialist team discovered that over 3.3 million of these people reside in Thailand.
Data leaked from this database includes names, government identification numbers, banking details, phone numbers, and dates of births.
Response to this breach
ThaiCERT is trying to respond to this incident along with the Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA).
Both organizations are encouraging Thai residents to be more careful when they are contacted through social media, by phone, or by email. The aim of this warning is to discourage people from sharing their personal information in a bid to stop it falling into the wrong hands.
The central bank in Thailand is also calling on residents who use online gambling platforms to change the passwords for their online banking accounts.
ETFA has said that the best form of protection in this regard would be the cancellation of any credit or debit cards used on these online platforms and to get new ones.
Gambling in Thailand
The state lottery is so dull that a lot of the underground lotteries are more popular. There are also many casinos in operation across the border in Cambodia, which allows Thai residents to get their gambling fix.
It appears that a lot of residents use offshore online gambling sites. The entire population of Thailand is less than 70 million and there were 3.3 million residents affected by this data breach. Therefore, a significant percentage of the population is gambling online, even when accounting for duplicate accounts.
Local police have been cracking down on illegal online gambling platforms in the region. However, it is near impossible for them to stop offshore platforms from targeting local residents.
