More than 1,000 e-mails sent to the Japanese consulate in Hong Kong early this month could have been intercepted due to a security breach at an internet service provider, which an expert fears could involve more local companies.
The glitch at KDDI Hong Kong is believed to have been caused by a rare case of hacking of its e-mail server which caused e-mails of its clients to be redirected to a third party.
The internet company discovered the loophole on August 1, one day after it emerged, but had spent two weeks to fix the problem. It said clients' e-mail services were affected 'in various periods' until last Thursday.
Roy Ko Wai-tak, manager of the Computer Emergency Response Team Co-ordination Centre (HKCert) said it appeared to be the first case in years of a provider's server being hacked and could be the 'tip of an iceberg'.
A spokesman for KDDI declined to reveal how many clients or e-mails were affected altogether and said it would report the case to police in due course. 'We have already switched over the e-mail server system and taken necessary security measures,' he said.
Mr Ko said the consulate was an obvious target for hackers.