UPDATE: The sergeant main turned cyberpunk accused of hacking the non-public data of 55 million Thais surrendered to police this morning. The alleged hacker, Sgt. Maj. Khemarat Boonchuay, arrived at the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB) this morning along with his spouse for questioning. Police said the suspect remained silent and did not respond to any questions.
Sgt. Maj. Khemarat was suspended by the Royal Thai Army (RTA) on Friday, April 7 for being absent with out go away (AWOL) since April 3. The sergeant main was issued an arrest warrant for laptop crime, leading to his suspension.
The suspect worked as a driver in the Army Transportation Department.
Police identified Khemarat because the cyberpunk hacker who operated behind the pseudonym 9Near and made threats to reveal the non-public information of fifty five million Thai residents.
This data was believed to have been stolen from the government’s Mor Prom vaccination application. The strategies used by the cyberpunk to breach the database and the motives behind the attack are still unclear.
Interesting of Digital Economy, Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn, dismissed speculations concerning the suspect’s political motivations and claimed that he was only seeking consideration and notoriety. Chaiwut said…
“He isn’t concerned with politics or the election, but some political groups use this incident to discredit him. We know that the suspect has not sold or used the information, however he simply posted it on social media to create some buzz.”
An arrest warrant was issued for Khemarat on April 2 for expenses related to the Computer Crime Act and Personal Data Protection Act after police identified him as the cyberpunk.
The commander of the CCIB, Pol. Lt. Gen. Worawat Watnakornbancha, revealed that they were unable to find the suspect as his phone was turned off. Pol. Lt. Gen. Worawat said…
“We issued a letter summoning the suspect to the suspect’s agency, but they mentioned the suspect could not be reached as a result of his telephone was switched off. His wife was nowhere to be found both.”