Exam chaos after hackers attack site

       Computer hackers have attacked the website of the National Institute of Edu-cational Testing Service (Niets), prompt-ing about 40% of students applying to sit in the General Aptitude Test (GAT)and the Professional Aptitude Test (PAT)at test centres to miss the exams yester-day.The third round of GAT and PAT tests ran from Thursday to today at 314 test centres nationwide, including at Sukho-thai Thammathirat Open University.
       Deputy Education Minister Chaiwuti Ban-nawat admitted yester-day that the GAT and PAT had been targetted by hackers.
       They have written a computer programme to manipulate the web-site of Niets, an agency responsible for organ-ising the GAT and PAT,blocking students from accessing the website for three days. Many stu-dents have not been able to check the time and place of their tests since Wednesday.
       Niets closed down its website,www.niets.or.th , to fix the hacking prob-lem for three days. Its operation resumed only yesterday.
       It was the first time that university admission tests have been troubled by hackers.
       "We never thought this could hap-pen," said Mr Chaiwuti.
       He said hackers in the past have derailed university admission tests in Russia and South Korea, but this kind of incident has never happened in Thailand before. In the case of South Korea,authorities had to cancel the test.
       However, Mr Chaiwuti said Niets did not have to cancel the ongoing GAT and PAT because the hackers could not steal or damage information stored in the agency's data system, they only blocked students' access to the website.
       He said the incident was a lesson for authorities that they need to be prepared for future technical problems and hacks.
       Niets should have a back-up website or a back-up system in which students may telephone to ask for their test in-formation, he added.
       There were 400,000 students regis-tering for the tests yesterday. At Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University alone,1,994 students sat tests but another 1,300 students, or 40%, did not show up.
       Niets is checking on the amount of students missing this round of GAT and PAT at other places.
       During the second round of GAT and PAT,only about 20% of stu-dents missed their tests.Officials have asked about 10 students at the university test centre about their friends who missed the tests. Most of them said friends missed the tests as they could not access the in-formation on the time and places of their tests,according to Mr Chaiwuti.
       If the website attack caused students to miss their tests, Niets might have to consider organising make-up tests, the deputy minister said.
       Niets director Uthumporn Jamorn-marn confirmed that the agency will arrange make-up tests for students who missed the tests.
       The agency has filed a complaint with police, asking investigators to search for the hackers and take action against them, said Mrs Uthumporn.
       Niets has also sought help from the Information and Communication Tech-nology Ministry as well as private detec-tives in its attempt to find the hackers.
       If arrested the hackers will be obliged to pay compensation for Niets' expenses related to the organisation of make-up tests for affected students as well.