Regional Information Security Experts Keep Emerging Cyber Threats at Bay

Information security (IS) experts from the Asia Pacific region have vowed to strengthen cooperation to ward off attacks in the cyber world.

The above pledge was made by more than 150 IS experts as they met in Hong Kong from 10 to 12 March 2008 to explore the best way forward to combat emerging cyber threats.

The "Asia Pacific Computer Emergency Response Team (APCERT) Conference and Annual General Meeting" was held in Hong Kong for first time. Under the theme of "Combating Botnets, Emerging Security Threats and Cyber Crime", the 2008 event was organized by the Hong Kong Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Centre (HKCERT) of the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC).

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Conference today (12 March 2008), Mr Yung Kai-tai, General Manager (IT Industry Development) of HKPC, said: "The trend of cyber security threats reflects that international collaboration is key to handling computer incidents. In the past, most of the computer incident reports were made by local users concerning virus infections. However, in these two years, there have been more requests from overseas to shut down malicious websites and botnet controllers. Last year, HKCERT received 740 reports related to Phishing of which 70 per cent required communications with overseas organizations for assistance."

Highlights of today's Conference included keynote address on regional cooperation against cyber threats by Mr Shamsul Jafni Shafie, Convenor of the Security and Prosperity Steering Group of the APEC Telecommunications and Information Working Group; and the complexities on local cyber crime investigation by Mr Paul Jackson, Chief Inspector, Forensic Technology Crime (Commercial Crime Bureau) of the Hong Kong Police.

Other officiating guests at the opening ceremony included Mr John Wong, Assistant Government Chief Information Officer (Infrastructure and Security) of the HKSAR Government, and Ms Azrina Raja Othman, Chief Technology Officer of the Malaysian Computer Emergency Response Team which has been re-elected Chair of APCERT.

APCERT was established in 2002 by leading and national Computer Security Incident Response Teams (CSIRTs) from the Asia Pacific to enhance regional cooperation and information sharing among CSIRTs in the region. It comprises 19 CSIRTs from 15 countries and regions. Established by HKPC in 2001 with funding support from the HKSAR Government, HKCERT is a founding member of APCERT and its newly-elected Deputy Chair.

For further information about the Conference, please visit the website: http://apcert2008.hkcert.org or contact the Conference secretariat at tel. (852) 2788 5867. For other media enquiries, please contact Mr Felix Chan of HKPC at tel. (852) 2788 5036 or email: felixchan@hkpc.org

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Mr Jonathan Ho
General Manager
Corporate Communications
Tel: (852) 2788 6390
Fax: (852) 2788 5056
Email: jonathanho@hkpc.org
Website: www.hkpc.org

12 March 2008