Personal data of 25,000 Hongkongers at risk after cyberattack against consumer watchdog, up from earlier estimate of 8,000
- People deemed as high risk in potential data leak include staff, former employees, subscribers of Choice magazine and voters who took part in past events
- ‘We will spare no effort in handling this matter,’ Consumer Council chief executive of Gilly Wong says
Note: An investigation later found that the data of 477 people was stolen.
Hong Kong’s Consumer Council has revealed that the personal data of more than 25,000 people may have been leaked in a cyberattack against the watchdog, up from an earlier estimate of 8,000.
Gilly Wong Fung-han, chief executive of the council, on Monday also said computer systems operating its external services, such as those handling inquiries and a price checking tool, had been restored, but there could be delays in addressing complaints.
“We will spare no effort in handling this matter,” she said. “Even if we don’t know who exactly has been affected by the data leak, out of an abundance of caution, we will notify different people so they can be extra careful,” she told a radio programme.
Wong said the council had notified individuals deemed as high risk in the potential data leak, which included staff, former employees, 25,000 subscribers of its Choice magazine over the past two years and 1,600 voters who took part in previous events.
Last week, the council said the cyberattack, which crippled most of its systems, could have affected 8,000 magazine subscribers.