Hong Kong Cyberport defends move to not reveal hacking attack, says stolen data includes details on staff and ex-workers, credit card records
- Tech hub, which did not divulge information on incident until last week, says data leakage took place on August 18
- IT veteran says the breach is a ‘bit embarrassing’ for the hi-tech hub
Hong Kong’s Cyberport tech hub has revealed that stolen personal data of staff, former workers and job applicants, including some credit card information, has surfaced on the internet.
Cyberport on Tuesday defended its decision not to disclose it had been hacked on August 18 until last week after the data theft came to light on social media.
In defending its disclosure decision, the fintech hub in Pok Fu Lam said at the time of the hacking, there was no evidence of any misuse of personal data and it did not want to cause any “unnecessary concern”.
It added: “We were subsequently made aware that some information available on the dark web could potentially be related to the incident and we immediately made a public announcement on [September 6] and contacted persons who may have been affected.”
Police said an investigation by the force’s cybersecurity and technology crime bureau was under way.