BOT warns commercial banks of threats to online systems

BANGKOK, October 29 (TNA) - The Bank of Thailand (BOT) has issued a warning to all commercial banks to be on alert and prepared for possible attacks on their online systems. BOT Deputy Governor Tong-urai Limpiti, who oversees stability of local financial institutes, told journalists on Thursday that the BOT warning was in response to earlier reports that some commercial banks in Thailand had received email messages from ill-intentioned persons overseas, threatening that their online service systems for clients would be disrupted. Tong-urai stressed that both BOT and commercial banks have attached importance to information technology (IT)systems of each bank, based on the principles of maintaining security and accuracy of clients' information. The BOT deputy governor ackowledged that attacks on commercial banks' online service systems by anonymous persons have occurred regularly, as the central bank has continually received reports on such attacks from local banks and BOT has, therefore, requested commercial banks to step up measures to prevent the sabotage in order to reduce any undesirable impact on their clients. (TNA)