Jimmy Lai's top aide reveals his email accounts were hacked

A top aide of media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying has admitted his email accounts were hacked into, in the wake of leaked emails alleging his boss' support for pan-democrats.

Mark Simon said he had been changing the passwords of his accounts but hackers still managed to break in, according to an interview by the Apple Daily, a Chinese-language newspaper under Lai's Next Media empire.

A specialist in information security, Young Wo-sang, said: "Smart hackers may set your account to notify them of any changes. So, changing passwords … may not be effective."

He also said information security in big companies was not necessarily stronger than that in a home network.

"There are too many people in a company," Young said. "And sometimes the big bosses might ask subordinates to help handle their computer files or emails."

The Apple Daily yesterday quoted Simon as saying hackers had been invading his email accounts non-stop.

Simon accused the culprits of trying to obstruct the city's democracy movement by destroying individual freedom and security, though he did not reveal what information might have been stolen.