Students' exam data sold on web
published : 4 Feb 2022 at 09:14
writer: Gary Boyle
ORIGINAL SOURCE/WRITER: Suchit Leesa-nguansuk
The personal information of over 23,000 students who took part in last year's examinations was leaked and sold on the internet by hackers.
The information, which included the students' names, identitification card details and grades, was stolen from the Thai University Central Admission System (TCAS) and sold on the dark web, the The Council of University Presidents of Thailand (CUPT) admitted on Thursday.
The stolen information belongs to students who took part in the third round of the university admissions examination, which was held around May last year.
The files could have been exported in May last year by a university staff member, the CUPT said.
Last year's admissions database -- known as TCAS64 -- was shut down in December. This year's version, TCAS65, has been upgraded to ensure students' personal information is better protected.
"CUPT apologises for the impact on personal information. In light of the incident, it is reviewing the database and working procedures with the support of the National Cyber Security Agency [NCSA]," it said.
The NCSA told the Bangkok Post that the leak could have been caused by an error by university staff who carelessly exported the data from the TCAS.
Vocabulary
- admission (noun): selecting students to attend a school or university - การรับเข้า
- admitted (verb): agreed that something is true, especially when you are unhappy, sorry or surprised about it - ยอมรับ
- carelessly (adv): not giving enough attention and thought to what you are doing, so that you make mistakes - อย่างไม่ระมัดระวัง, อย่างประมาท
- dark web (n): the part of the World Wide Web that is only accessible by means of special software, allowing users and website operators to remain anonymous or untraceable -
- database: a large amount of information stored in a computer in an organised way - ฐานข้อมูล
- hacker: a person who secretly finds a way of looking at and/or changing information on somebody else's computer system without permission - ผู้ที่มีความชำนาญในการใช้คอมพิวเตอร์ไปในทางที่ผิดกฎหมาย เช่น แอบขโมยข้อมูลจากคอมพิวเตอร์ในเครือข่าย
- identification card (ID card): an official card or a document that can prove who you are - บัตรประชาชน
- leak: telling private or secret information to journalists or to the public - การเปิดเผยความลับ
- procedures (noun): ways of doing something - ขั้นตอนการดำเนินการ
- round: one of a series of events, activities, etc. - รอบ
- upgraded (adj): having given something a higher level of importance or quality - ยกระดับ
