The government is set to implement a multi-factor authentication (MFA) login method for all government services, an approach that will be tabled for cabinet approval today in order to combat a massive data leak that has compromised over 200 million login credentials nationwide, including vulnerabilities in 30,000 state systems.According to Digital Economy and Society (DES) Minister Chaichanok Chidchob, the centrepiece of the proposal is the mandatory adoption of MFA for all government services.
MFA refers to a security method that requires two or more proofs of identity before allowing users to access an account, making it much harder for hackers to break in.
Mr Chaichanok held a meeting yesterday with related parties, including the National Cyber Security Agency (NCSA), Personal Data Protection Agency and Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau, to bolster state measures on cyber defence and protect the public's data.
As an urgent short-term measure, he said the government will also enforce a forced reset of passwords across all state agencies.
This directive, which can be implemented immediately, is designed to neutralise the usefulness of previously leaked credentials.
