HKCERT territory-wide drill targets cyber financial crimes

With increasing financially-motivated cyber attacks, the local information security watchdog, the Hong Kong Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Centre (HKCERT), yesterday (28 October 2010) conducted a territory-wide drill to raise the preparedness of the local internet infrastructure in tackling these attacks.

According to HKCERT, managed by the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC), 483 phishing incidents and active hacking cases, many of them targeting the financial sector, were reported in the first nine months of 2010, up 20 per cent from the same period last year.

Mr Roy Ko, Principal Consultant (IT Industry Development) of HKPC and Manager of HKCERT, said, “The alarming trend urgently calls for more coordinated efforts to tackle cyber attacks. The drill has successfully contained the simulated denial of service attacks against an online payment website and closed down a botnet which steals personal data such as online banking credentials. It also tested the incident handling procedures of various parties. While participants have found the drill a useful exercise, we will hold a detailed review of it next week to identify areas for further improvement.”

With “Fighting Financial Crime on the Internet” being the theme of the drill, various scenarios of cyber security attacks were simulated which required immediate actions by participating organizations. They included the Hong Kong Police, the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, and key players in the internet community (Appendix for Full List).

For more details about the drill, please contact HKCERT at tel: (852) 8105 6060, fax: (852) 8105 9760 and e-mail: hkcert@hkcert.org or visit the centre’s webpage: http://www.hkcert.org/. 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


29 October 2010
Appendix/附錄


Hong Kong Incident Response Drill 2010
香港網絡保安演習 2010


List of Participating Organizations
參加機構名單

• Hong Kong Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Centre

  香港電腦保安事故協調中心

• Hong Kong Police Force, HKSAR Government

  香港特別行政區政府 香港警務處

• Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, HKSAR Government

  香港特別行政區政府 政府資訊科技總監辦公室

• Hong Kong Internet Service Providers Association

  香港互聯網供應商協會

• Hong Kong Internet Exchange

  香港互聯網訊息交換中心

• Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation Limited

  香港互聯網註冊管理有限公司

• The DotAsia Organization

• Hong Kong Broadband Network

  香港寬頻網絡有限公司

• Information Technology Services Centre, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

  香港中文大學資訊科技服務處

Mr Roy Ko, Principal Consultant (IT Industry Development) of HKPC and Manager of HKCERT, (standing) monitored the drill at the command centre with representatives of Hong Kong Police and the Office of the Government Chief Information Office

Hong Kong Incident Response Drill 2010 in Progress