Summit Introduces Information Security Forensics to Hong Kong Enterprises

Addressing over 100 participants at the opening ceremony of the Information Security Summit 2006 today (28 November 2006), Dr Stephen Lee, Acting Executive Director of the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) stated the importance for companies and organizations of all types and sizes to manage the breadth and depth of IT fraud, which can spell colossal disaster for victims.

Under the theme of "IT Fraud, Forensics and Security Controls – Looking to 2007 and Beyond", the Summit was jointly organized by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (Hong Kong Chapter), HKPC, the Hong Kong Computer Emergency Response Team Co-ordination Centre (HKCERT), Information Security Specialist Group of the Hong Kong Computer Society, Information Security and Forensics Society, Information Systems Audit and Control Association (Hong Kong Chapter), International High Technology Crime Investigation Association (Asia Pacific Chapter) and Professional Information Security Association.

Speaking about the worrying signs of rising cyber scams, Dr Lee said, "For instance, in August this year, the Anti-Phishing Working Group received 26,150 phishing reports from across the world, almost doubled the 13,776 records a year ago. In the same month, a total of 148 brands were hijacked by these phishing attacks, up from 84 in August 2005. Financial services continued to be the most targeted industry sector, accounting for 92.6% of all these attacks."

"The rising trend of IT fraud underscores the growing importance of evidence collection, examination and analysis, which can help not only bring the culprits to justice, but also develop strategies to guard against similar attacks in the future. All this can be achieved through forensic technologies and security tools," he said.

The Summit is the latest initiative of HKPC to help IT users protect their information and ward off cyber attacks. "Over the years, HKPC has also been making tremendous efforts through the HKCERT, which provides a centralized contact on computer security incident reporting and response for local enterprises and Internet users in case of security incidents. The centre coordinates responses and recovery actions, monitors and disseminates information on security-related issues, and provides advice on preventive measures against security threats," he said.

Other officiating guests at the ceremony included Mr Shelton Ng, Chief Superintendent, Hong Kong Police, HKSAR, and Mr Dale Johnstone, Chairman, Organizing Committee of the Information Security Summit 2006.

The Summit was marked by the presence of local and international experts including keynote speaker Mr Raul O. Roldan, Acting Deputy Assistant Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cyber Division of the USA. Among the topics addressed were online fraud, forensic tools and authentication frameworks. Besides the main conference, the Summit also included various workshops on management and technical theories, applications and successful practices of information security and forensics.

The Information Security Summit 2006 was sponsored by Mirapoint, Inc., F-Secure, and Microsoft Hong Kong Ltd.

For further details on the Information Security Summit 2006, please visit the official website at www.issummit.org.

For media enquiries, please contact:
Ms Betty Lee
General Manager
Corporate Communications and Events
Tel: (852) 2788 5036
Fax: (852) 2788 5056
E-mail: rebeccat@hkpc.org
Website: www.hkpc.org

HKPC
28 November 2006