Exclusive | Hong Kong banks must step up cybersecurity, protect customers’ data as online scams multiply, warns industry leader
- Cyberattacks on Hong Kong banks doubled last year while the number of reported cyber scams tripled, according to official figures
- Risks have risen sharply as lenders have adopted fintech and increased their digital offerings, says head of Hong Kong Association of Banks
Hong Kong’s banks must step up their efforts to combat cybercrime and protect customers’ data amid a dramatic rise in online attacks, one of the city’s most senior banking executives has warned.
Mary Huen Wai-yi, chairwoman of the Hong Kong Association of Banks (HKAB), said that as lenders have rolled out more digital banking services allowing customers to conduct transactions on their computers or smartphones, so the risks have multiplied.
Her concerns are supported by figures from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the city’s de facto central bank, which show cyberattacks on banks doubled last year. Online scams – including false banking websites, phishing emails and fake banking apps – reached 142 cases in 2018, a threefold increase from the 44 reported incidents in 2017 and a big leap from 35 a year before that.
“As banks have been launching more fintech measures in recent years, it has become more convenient for the customers but it has also introducing new types of risk. It is important for the banking sector to step up its risk management to protect the interests of customers,” Huen said in an exclusive interview with the South China Morning Post.
Phishing – sending out fake emails which look like official bank communications asking for customers’ information – was the fastest-growing cyber scam in Hong Kong last year. There were 62 reported cases, compared to just seven in 2017, according to the HKMA data.