Hong Kong’s technology chief condemns hacking attack on Cyberport, urges tech hub and government departments to upgrade security

Hong Kong’s technology chief has condemned a hacking attack on Cyberport that siphoned off a large amount of staff data, while urging the tech hub and government departments to tighten security measures to prevent a repeat of the crime.

Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry Sun Dong on Wednesday said the government was deeply concerned about the cyberattack, which saw 400GB of personal data belonging to staff, former workers and job applicants stolen in August. Some of the information was leaked to the dark web, a secretive side of the internet frequented by criminals.

“The government strongly condemns the cybercrime in question,” Sun said, revealing the tech hub was also the subject of multiple failed attacks carried out by the same hackers in the weeks after the first one on August 18.

Hackers succeeded in stealing the data on their first attempt by gaining unauthorised access to Cyberport’s system, Sun said, but the incident was not revealed to the public until last week.

After meeting the tech hub’s top management on Tuesday, Sun said he asked them to strengthen protection of sensitive data stored on network systems and plug all loopholes.

“I also instructed Cyberport to fully cooperate with police and independent cybersecurity experts in their detailed investigation of the whole incident,” he said. “Cyberport should disclose more information to the public if and when conditions allow it.”

The technology chief instructed all government departments and public organisations through the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer to “learn a lesson from the Cyberport incident” and immediately review existing security measures.