GSB to re-launch ATMs in Thailand within two weeks

BANGKOK, August 24 (TNA) - Thailand's Government Savings Bank (GSB) is reseting its system for operating all its Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) to be relaunched nationwide within the next two weeks, after 21 out of its over 3,300 ATMs booths were recently attacked by a group of foreign hackers with over 12 million baht of cash stolen out. GSB Director Chatchai Payuhanaveechai told journalists of the update on Thursday, after the state-run bank's ATMs were planted with a malware virus which allowed the hackers to steal the money from the ATMs, totally worth 12.29 million baht, earlier this month. Chatchai said the bank has contacted the ATMs manufacturer, NCR Co., Ltd. in Scotland, for a hard reset on all its ATMs system in order to reboot the system for normal operation over the next 1-2 weeks. Chartchai confirmed, however, that the hackers could not access to any account of GSB clients and all the accounts have, thus, remained safe. Chartchai stressed that the foreign hackers could only work on specific ATMs booths, in which the hackers could not be able to further hack into the bank's Call Banking system, as there are many layers of security to protect the system. According to the GSB chief, the insurance company is to compensate for the bank's damages and GSB is negotiating with the firm to extend its coverage to protect other financial services of the bank as well. Besides, GSB has contacted the Thai Bankers Association to inform it of the situation and this new type of theft, which could take place in a remote area and at night to avoid tip-offs by witnesses. Meanwhile, Thai police have coordinated with their counterparts in Taiwan for shared information, as a close-circuit televisions (CCTV) footage showed that the hackers' gang comprised Eastern European nationals who had reportedly carried out similar crime in Taiwan. (TNA)