Hong Kong’s Cyberport apologises over data theft and vows to improve security, but insists no human error involved
- Cyberport CEO Peter Yan says no system-wide loopholes in security existed and new measures have fended off repeat attacks
- Working group to review incident, make recommendations for improvements and support those affected, management says
Hong Kong’s Cyberport apologised on Thursday after a data theft led to sensitive staff information being offered for sale on the dark web and pledged to invest resources as needed to strengthen network security, while also admitting the extent of the leak was still being investigated.
Top executives also said the board of the company managing the hi-tech park in Pok Fu Lam had decided to set up a working group to review the incident, make recommendations for improvements and support those affected.
Cyberport CEO Peter Yan King-shun told a media briefing that the data breach was confined to “some information stored in some parts of some servers” and maintained that no system-wide security loopholes existed. Neither was there any evidence of human error in the data breach, he added.
The tech hub had put enhanced measures in place after consultation with outside experts, which had allowed it to fend off similar attacks in recent weeks, he explained.
“[Staff] now need to take more time to access data and it’s not as convenient, but we think this is absolutely worth it, because we have indeed had some of our data stolen, so we must now put more weight on security,” Yan said.
Cyberport chairman Simon Chan Sai-ming on Thursday condemned the hackers and apologised.
“On behalf of the board, I would also like to offer an apology to those affected and for the concerns thus raised,” Chan said.