Hong Kong must reform corporate culture, step up data security to avoid harm to I&T hub ambitions after cyberattacks, industry veterans say
- Specialists ramp up warnings after spate of cyberattacks, with latest hacks hitting jewellery chain Luk Fook Holdings and Hong Kong College of Technology
- One expert says breaches ‘might affect investors who planned to set up offices in Hong Kong’, as city must meet needs of Greater Bay Area partners to become I&T hub
Just a day earlier, the Hong Kong College of Technology also said it was hit by a “highly targeted and unusual cyberattack” in February which leaked personal information concerning about 8,100 students. A ransomware group was believed to have stolen 450GB of data and shared the information on the dark web earlier this week.
IT industry veteran Joseph Leung Wai-fung urged companies to revamp their corporate culture and pay more attention to cybersecurity.
“[The senior management of organisations] have not put this topic as a high priority. Thus they have not provided adequate resources,” said Leung, a lecturer at Polytechnic University’s school of professional education and executive development.
He also said the recent hacks could damage the city’s image as it planned to develop into an I&T hub in the Greater Bay Area, Beijing’s ambitious plan to transform Hong Kong, Macau and nine mainland Chinese cities into an integrated hi-tech, economic powerhouse by 2035.
“This might affect investors who planned to set up offices in Hong Kong. They might think Hong Kong does not have enough qualified IT security experts or that it does not take a serious attitude towards data privacy,” Leung said.