Eight telecom companies have signed an agreement to establish the Telecom Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) to monitor and prevent cyber-attacks in the sector. The move is in line with the government's digital economy roadmap, as well as the upcoming cybersecurity bill that was passed by the National Legislative Assembly last week. Monchai Noosong, president of the Telecommunications Association of Thailand (TCT), the body through which the companies agreed on the new team, said the CERT will be self-regulated, with full-scale operations ready in 12 months. However, all related parties will initially cooperate through sharing of information about threats and warnings of cyber-attacks, as well as collaboration on analytics on a case-by-case basis to deal with increasingly sophisticated cyberthreats to state agency websites and e-commerce transactions.
The eight telecom companies are TOT, CAT Telecom, Advanced Info Service, Total Access Communication, True Internet Corporation, Symphony Communication, CS Loxinfo and United Information Highway. Mr Monchai said telecom is one of six critical sectors that must be strong to handle threats, along with energy, finance, investment, healthcare and insurance. Telecom infrastructure is the backbone of all critical sectors.
The Bank of Thailand already has a CERT procedure to cope with threats. The Thailand Telecom CERT will be the second such team to connect with the government's CERT, which is operated by the Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA).
The Telecom CERT has not set a budget yet, with all the members contributing. Mr Monchai said the TCT asked for funding of 20 million baht from the telecom regulator through its Broadcasting and Telecommunications Research and Development Fund.
