BANGKOK, Oct 3 — Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said Monday that she would temporarily halt communicating via Twitter until the Information and Communication Technology Ministry (ICT) finishes its investigation to find the hacker who discredited her government and policies.
The premier’s “@PouYingluck” account on the popular microblogging social network was targeted by an unknown person Sunday morning who denigrated, in eight separate posts (or tweets) her Pheu Thai-led government policies and administration.
The premier said she would let the authorities concerned investigate and evaluate how far the hacker went into her information.
“Some clues have been found,” she said, quoting unnamed ministry officials. “The information will be revealed once the probe is complete.”
Ms Yingluck said she didn’t know the motive behind the hacking but considered it an intrusion of her personal privacy. The prime minister stopped short of saying whether the attack was intended to topple her government.
ICT Minister Anudith Nakornthap earlier said that, according to the initial investigation, the hacker used a mobile phone to hack the premier’s twitter account.
Mr Anudith said it was believed the hacker was a Thai national as Thai language comments were tweeted.
Ms Yingluck’s e-mail was hacked to get access to her Twitter account and the hacker changed the passwords for both her email and Twitter accounts.
The ICT minister said the action was considered a crime and violates the Computer Crime Act BE 2550 (2007). Violators could face up to five years in prison and a maximum fine of Bt100,000 (US$3,000).
The premier’s @Pou Yingluck Twitter account was used to spread information related to the premier and only one other person on the team knew her password, the minister said.
The investigation team are gathering evidence to identify the hacker, Mr Anudith said, but he admitted that the hacker may not be found.
