Thai PBS investigation team has found that one of the two suspected hackers is very close to one of the officials and can access the official’s computer in his office despite the Land Transport Department (LTD) of Thailand insisting that its employees, who have access to the car registration database, were not involved in the altering of information to apply for new licenses for illegal vehicles.
One of the two accused hackers, “Sathien,” was frequently spotted at the assistant car inspector’s desk and had free access to the inspector’s office, according to a frequent visitor to the LTD who also mentioned that Sathien’s motorcycle license plate number, 9999, is pricey. This information was provided to Thai PBS.
He claimed to think that without help from someone with access to the system, the two accused hackers could not have gained access to the department’s registration database. Additionally, he claimed that there might be more vehicles with fake license plates than the 65 the LTD and the police reported.
Director-general of LTD Chirut Wisalchit stated that Sathien, a freelance car registration specialist, has worked at the department for about 20 years, providing car registration services for a fee. Sathien is therefore familiar with many people at the department and may have obtained the username and password of an official who has access to the database.
Gangs who specialize in smuggling expensive automobiles from abroad are in high demand for legitimate driver’s licenses since, without them, the imported cars cannot be sold for exorbitant rates. A valid driver’s license can therefore be worth up to a million baht.
Sathien and the other alleged hackers were detained by the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau but were freed on 25,000 baht bond each.
pic credit PBS
