NBTC call for agency on cybersecurity
A national cybersecurity agency should be established to handle increasingly sophisticated cyberthreats in the digital era, urges the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC).
“To promote the long-term development of the country’s digital economy, the government should create a clear picture of a cybersecurity roadmap as part of the national agenda,” said ACM Thares Punsri, NBTC chairman.
Cybersecurity demands a “centralised command agency” to work together with other related state agencies and the private sector, he said.
In an era when cybercrime has become a significant global threat, cybersecurity has evolved from a strictly technological challenge to a vital problem that affects people from diverse sectors, especially state agencies and businesses, said ACM Thares.
Thailand has no clear road map for managing and dealing with cyberthreats, he said.
Cybersecurity measures should be implemented in parallel with ongoing development of the digital ecosystem for greater efficiency, said ACM Thares.
“The more popular online services and innovative digital apps, the more dangerous cyberwarfare and electronic fraud,” he said.
ACM Thares said each state agency currently develops cybersecurity measures for their own purposes, instead of serving the national interest.
For instance, the Electronic Transactions Development Agency, which is under the Digital Economy and Society Ministry, is only working towards strengthening the reliability of government websites from fraud, scams, hacking, system attacks and the use of malware.
He urged the government to start implementing national cybersecurity measures by consolidating the country’s telecom infrastructure, similar to the telecom network pool concept, for greater security control.
However, ACM Thares acknowledged the consolidation of telecom networks would not be easy because of the complexity in calculating each network value.
In another development, the NBTC has drafted a new organisational structure to comply with the amended NBTC draft bill expected to be implemented by June.
The draft bill calls for the number of NBTC commissioners to be cut from 11 to seven, selected from seven sectors: telecommunications, radio broadcasting, TV broadcasting, legal, economics, engineering and consumer protection.
The seven commissioners would be responsible for governing both telecom and broadcasting businesses, overseeing spectrum auctions and managing satellite spectrum.
ACM Thares urged new NBTC commissioners to set up a subcommittee to take responsibility for cybersecurity tasks.