Police investigate hacking attack on HKU polling programme

Hackers may have gained access to more than 2,000 sets of personal data, including names, ID card numbers and phone details, in recent attacks on University of Hong Kong computers.

Systems of the university's public opinion programme had suffered "several illegal intrusions", a spokeswoman for the programme said. A police report was made two days ago.

A police spokesman said: "So far, there is no sign that this incident is related to recent reports of local computer systems being intruded."

Whistle-blower Edward Snowden told the Post last week that Chinese University was a target of American cyberspying.

Last month the HKU programme said it would organise the first "deliberation day" for organisers of Occupy Central, a civil disobedience movement aimed at achieving genuine universal suffrage that has been widely criticised by Beijing loyalists.

The programme's spokeswoman would not say whether the names hacked included those of the more than 700 people at the deliberation day on June 9.

"When we first found out about the unusual activities on May 5 we did not consider it so serious that a report to the police was needed," she said.