The Bangkok Post website was inaccessible for most of Wednesday, along with the sites of hundreds of other internet service users, due to a rare ransomware attack, according to its long-standing service provider.
Internet Thailand (Inet) Plc reported on Wednesday that it experienced a ransomware attack on its hypervisor management system for the first time, affecting 300 out of its 2,500 clients. The company aimed to fully restore services to the affected parties by midnight on Wednesday.
"This is the first time that Inet has faced a cybersecurity attack of this magnitude, requiring the restoration of clients' systems," said Inet CEO Morragot Kulatumyotin.
Bangkok Post readers had no access to the website, and staff were unable to update the contents, from early Wednesday morning until shortly after 7.30pm.
Inet deputy managing director Wanchai Vach-shevadumrong said that a hacker had obtained an employee's credentials while the employee was working remotely.
"We have identified 300 affected clients out of a total of 2,500," said Mr Wanchai.
He insisted that the company had backup and restore systems in place, eliminating the need to pay a ransom. He assured customers that their data would not be lost, but the cleansing and restoration process would take some time.
"By 6 pm, we were able to restore 95% of clients' systems, and we expect to achieve full restoration by tonight," said Mr Wanchai.
"This public disclosure of hacking is the first of its kind in Thailand."