Thailand needs 800 more cyber security specialists
Thailand, which is currently promoting its Thailand 4.0 strategy that aims at transforming the country’s economy into a information technology- and knowledge-driven one, is suffering from a severe lack of cyber security experts, government agencies admitted.
Currently, Thailand now has less than 200 such experts at the level of certified information systems security professionals, or CISSPs, the most recognised international standard for IT security professionals.
In comparison, South Korea has around 2,800 and Singapore some 1,600.
Adding to the low number of experts, Thailand’s entire cyber security and critical infrastructure protection systems are still in a nascent stage, lacking a national security framework, US cyber security firm Fortinet found in a field study.
According to a report by Thailand’s Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA), cyber attacks increased by ten per cent year-on-year in the recnet past in terms of fraud, scams, hacking, system attacks and malware used for cyber crime, terrorism or destruction, with the latest major attack having been the ransomware WannaCry which effected Thai networks and, in its most publicly visible effect, hacked a large advertising billboard in Bangkok.
Unfortunately, most cyber security workers in Thailand lack up-to-date skills in networking, telecommunications security, IT systems operations, security risk management, procurement and maintenance, the ETDA report said.
To successfully deal with growing cyber threats, the number of CISSP professionals should be increased by at least 800 to counter the growing threats, according to Surangkana Wayuparb, chief executive of the ETDA. To that end, the agency is cooperating with the Thailand Information Security Association to groom new IT security experts and develop personnel with information security expert certification, first at the local Information Security Expert Certification (ISEC) standard and than at CISSP level.
The programme aims to produce 500 CISSPs by the end of this year and more until the number reaches 1,000 by the year 2022, “in line with the Thailand 4.0 roadmap,” Wayuparb says.
[caption id="attachment_30039" align="alignleft" width="300"] Billboard in Bangkok attacked by the WannaCry ransomware in May 2017[/caption] Thailand, which is currently promoting its Thailand 4.0 strategy that aims at transforming the country's economy into a information technology- and knowledge-driven one, is suffering from a severe lack of cyber security experts, government agencies admitted. Currently, Thailand now has less than 200 such experts at the level of certified information systems security professionals, or CISSPs, the most recognised international standard for IT security professionals. In comparison, South Korea has around 2,800 and Singapore some 1,600. Adding to the low number of experts, Thailand's entire...
Thailand, which is currently promoting its Thailand 4.0 strategy that aims at transforming the country’s economy into a information technology- and knowledge-driven one, is suffering from a severe lack of cyber security experts, government agencies admitted.
Currently, Thailand now has less than 200 such experts at the level of certified information systems security professionals, or CISSPs, the most recognised international standard for IT security professionals.
In comparison, South Korea has around 2,800 and Singapore some 1,600.
Adding to the low number of experts, Thailand’s entire cyber security and critical infrastructure protection systems are still in a nascent stage, lacking a national security framework, US cyber security firm Fortinet found in a field study.
According to a report by Thailand’s Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA), cyber attacks increased by ten per cent year-on-year in the recnet past in terms of fraud, scams, hacking, system attacks and malware used for cyber crime, terrorism or destruction, with the latest major attack having been the ransomware WannaCry which effected Thai networks and, in its most publicly visible effect, hacked a large advertising billboard in Bangkok.
Unfortunately, most cyber security workers in Thailand lack up-to-date skills in networking, telecommunications security, IT systems operations, security risk management, procurement and maintenance, the ETDA report said.
To successfully deal with growing cyber threats, the number of CISSP professionals should be increased by at least 800 to counter the growing threats, according to Surangkana Wayuparb, chief executive of the ETDA. To that end, the agency is cooperating with the Thailand Information Security Association to groom new IT security experts and develop personnel with information security expert certification, first at the local Information Security Expert Certification (ISEC) standard and than at CISSP level.
The programme aims to produce 500 CISSPs by the end of this year and more until the number reaches 1,000 by the year 2022, “in line with the Thailand 4.0 roadmap,” Wayuparb says.
