PM's Twitter page hacked: Student confesses

[Khun Don]

PM's Twitter page hacked
Published: 2/10/2011 at 12:31 PM
Online news:

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's staff on Sunday posted a message on the Facebook page of the prime minister saying that her "Twitter@PouYingluck" page had been hacked.

The message says: "Please be informed that Twitter@PouYingluck page has been hacked. Text messages now showing were not posted by the prime minister."

As of 10.20am, eight text messages were posted on Twitter@PouYingluck at the intervals of one to five minutes as follows:

10.22am: "This country is a business. We are doing for our associates, not the Thai people. We are doing for those who support us, not those thinking differently from us."

10.25am: "Where is the poor's opportunity? We deceived the poor by giving them hopes to make them vote for our group to come for our interests."

10.26am: "Where's sustainability? Solving the flood problem is not only to create an image, but to bring together people with knowledge and ability for sustainable solutions."

10.29am: "Is it now time for the country to see changes toward the betterment, not just a creation of an image for the benefits of certain companies, relatives and interest groups?"

10.35am: "What is most important for this country is education. Why the policy is to distribute tablet PCs instead of making curricular changes or giving teachers more income?"

10.37am: "Why think about such mega projects as sea reclamation and the world's tallest building? This shows lack of understanding of this country."

10.43am: "Thailand wants changes. It is time for everyone in the country to wake up. Foolishness must be eradidated."

10.45am: "Even one's own Twitter cannot be protected. How can the country be protected? Think about this."

Concerning this matter, Information and Communication Technology Minister Anudit Nakhonthap said he had assigned the computer crimes suppression office to trace for the hacker.

It was initially known that the hacker did this with an iPhone, he said.

"We knew who did this and from where. But we have to keep this to ourselves because we still have to coordinate with police to make an arrest."

Capt Anudit said the ICT Ministry would release an official statement concerning this matter on Monday, Oct 3.

BANGKOK POST

[Khun Don]

Twitter hacking was an 'inside job'
Thai national suspected of using PM's accounts

Published: 4/10/2011 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News

The person who hacked into Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's Twitter account broke into her email and used it to access her Twitter feed, Information and Communication Technology Minister Anudith Nakornthap says.

He yesterday said the suspect changed the passwords to the prime minister's email and Twitter accounts after obtaining access _ an offence punishable by a fine of 100,000 baht and a jail term of up to five years under the 2007 Computer Crime Act.

According to the minister, only one member of the prime minister's staff knows her Twitter password.

Group Captain Anudith said that officials have found some clues but he declined to discuss the details to avoid compromising the ongoing investigation.

However he could confirm that the suspect is a Thai national.

"We've got leads, but we'd rather not discuss them,' he said.

The prime minister's Twitter account, Twitter@PouYingluck, was hacked on Sunday. The hacker posted eight messages critical of the government.

The ICT minister said hacking attacks on prominent figures are not uncommon, citing the examples of United States President Barack Obama, international news agencies and several celebrities who have fallen victim to cyber crime.

Government spokesperson Thitima Chaisang said Ms Yingluck's compromised Twitter account has been suspended following a request from the ICT Ministry to Twitter Inc.

She said Ms Yingluck has no intention of creating a new official Twitter account in the near future but will consult with the ICT Ministry to find ways to improve internet and social networking security.

Ms Thitima said the incident does present an opportunity to upgrade internet security at Government House, a project which the ICT Ministry is happy to help with.

Democrats say: Plot talk is 'nonsense'

Ms Yingluck said Monday her Twitter account would be reactivated when the investigation is complete.

"It will remain suspended until we know all the details. We need to see how much information was gleaned," she said.

Ms Yingluck declined to say if the incident had anything to do with the Pheu Thai Party's claim about an alleged plot to topple her administration. Meanwhile, Gp Capt Anudith said the ICT Ministry would review the computer crime law to better deal with cyber crime and related issues.

He said the incident underlined the need for government agencies and internet users in general to implement stricter security measures.

Gp Capt Anudith noted that a lack of funds has hindered attempts to boost security and dissuaded people from engaging in e-business.

"We are focusing on expanding the network while we lag behind in terms of system security," he said.

"The state's IT staff have seen their budget for developing system security cut. We will have to address this issue."

BANGKOK POST

[Khun Don]

Student admits to hacking PM's Twitter
Published: 5/10/2011 at 03:17 PM
Online news:

Aekawit Thongdeeworakul, a fifth year student of the Faculty of Architecture of Chulalongkorn University, confessed he had hacked into Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's Twitter account on Sunday.

The student said this to a press conference at the Information and Communication Technology Ministry on Wednesday afternoon.

He said did it alone without conscience.

ICT Minister Anudith Nakhonthap insisted the student was not a scapegoat, adding that the student would be treated fairly according to the law under a single standard.

After the conference, Aekawit was taken to a condominium in Pratunam area for a re-enactment of crime.

If found guilty under the Computer Act of 2007, he is liable to a jail term of up to five years or a fine of up to 100,000 baht or both.

BANGKOK POST

[Khun Don]

Hunting the hackers
The strange case of PM Yingluck's Twitter account drives home the importance of information security

Published: 5/10/2011 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: Business

The hacking of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's Twitter account has taught yet another lesson to public figures and ordinary citizens alike regarding information security, particularly their passwords.

The case also exposes weaknesses in the way Thailand's security experts and related authorities deal with hacking.

The most pessimistic observers say it is not a big leap from hacking a prominent politician's e-mail or Twitter account to compromising national information technology (IT) systems in more profound ways, up to and including cyber warfare.

The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) has already recovered and reset Ms Yingluck's e-mail and Twitter passwords, said Prinya Hom-anek, secretary of the Thailand Information Security Association and an adviser to Ms Yingluck's IT team.

DSI investigators led by Pol Col Yannapol Youngyuen are working with Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Minister Anudith Nakornthap to track down and arrest the perpetrator.

"We retrieved the password from the e-mail service provider in the US and are considering whether to renew the existing account or suspend it," said Mr Prinya, who is also the president of Acis Professional Center, a security training firm.

He listed two possible scenarios behind the hacking attack _ an insider with access to the necessary password, or a hacker skilled at acquiring passwords.

There are many ways to acquire someone's password, but the likeliest scenario in this case is e-mail hacking to obtain the Twitter password, said Mr Prinya.

"If a hacker can access the e-mail account that was used when registering, then he or she could click on the Forgot Your Password link at Twitter.com/account/resend. Twitter then sends a reset password to the victim's e-mail, and the hacker could intercept the message and reset the password of that account again," he said.

Passwords: Better than '123456'

Any internet user is in danger of this but especially politicians, celebrities, singers and other public figures.

Mr Prinya said that if politicians or celebrities have their assistants post messages on social networks on their behalf, then they must be certain these people can be trusted, as half of such incidents are caused by insiders.

To prevent hacking by outsiders, all devices, both computers and smartphones, must use a security hurdle system to protect against malicious programs.

Even US President Barack Obama has a specially modified device containing a security hurdle on his BlackBerry, said Mr Prinya.

"There are 12 million Facebook users in Thailand plus 500,000 Twitter accounts," he said.

Users should reset their e-mail passwords immediately once a problem has been detected in case hackers can still access the account.

Those unable to access their e-mail should inform Twitter that their accounts have been hacked by going to Support.twitter.com/forms/general and selecting "Hacked or phished account" under the Regarding dropbox.

Twitter will then tell what to do next, or users can choose "Account deactivation/restoration" to cancel the account.

Mr Prinya urged the government to raise awareness of information security training, particularly high-level government officials and social media teams.

He also said the biggest challenge facing Thailand is the lack of an international law that requires global service providers such as Twitter and Facebook to disclose their online data traffic in the event of a hacking incident.

Paiboon Amornpinyokiat, a law consultant and lecturer at Chulalongkorn University, said that the hacking of Ms Yingluck's Twitter account reflected a failure of the government _ both the prime minister herself and the ICT Ministry _ to enforce the Computer-Related Crime Act of 2007.

"From my experience, it takes at least a week to trace a hacker," he said, adding that if the ICT minister could obtain the IP address of whoever posted the satirical messages, they could determine the location.

If the crime was committed using a mobile phone, then officials could coordinate with the service provider to traced the phone's location.

However, if the hacker is prepaid user, then officials would need to track the mobile number's registration.

Mr Paiboon said the case violates Sections 5, 7, 9 and 12 of the Act relating to accessing a system without permission.

He said the government should consider amending the existing Criminal Procedure Code to authorise police, attorneys and judges to investigate electronic incidents, not just ICT Ministry officials.

BANGKOK POST