Cybersecurity crime losses in Hong Kong up 15% year on year in first half of 2025

Financial losses through cybersecurity crimes in Hong Kong hit HK$3.04 billion (US$387.3 million) in the first half of 2025, marking a nearly 15 per cent year-on-year increase, official figures have shown. Police on Thursday also highlighted the problem of hacking activities, with financial losses from such attacks surging more than tenfold to HK$39.4 million in the first six months of 2025, up from HK$3.3 million in the same period last year, despite a drop in the number of cases. The latest figures were revealed as the city’s Digital Policy Office introduced key initiatives for promoting cybersecurity in the second half of the year. Raymond Lam Cheuk-ho, chief superintendent of the cybersecurity and technology crime bureau, noted a heightened level of digital threats in the current landscape. “We observed a slight decline in hacker attack numbers, but a significant surge in financial losses, which indicates escalating threats,” he said. Lam cited the case of a local financial institution targeted by hackers in June, which resulted in the theft of over 3 million units of stablecoin and other cryptocurrencies. The incident led to losses exceeding HK$26 million, contributing significantly to the overall increase in financial losses through hacking activities, he said. Hong Kong recorded 16,262 cases of technology crime in the first six months of 2025, marking a 0.5 per cent year-on-year increase. These crimes led to financial losses of more than HK$3.04 billion, a 14.7 per cent increase from the same period last year. Among all cases of technology crime, 21 involved ransomware, marking a 30 per cent year-on-year drop in such cases. But Lam said the relatively small number of ransomware cases belied their seriousness, with the victim in one case blackmailed for as much as HK$10 million. “While ransomware cases represent less than 1 per cent of all technology crimes, their true extent may be underestimated, as some enterprises chose to manage intrusions internally rather than proactively informing the police,” the chief superintendent said. “These incidents, including cross-border crimes, involved online shopping scams, phishing and personal data theft. The industrialised nature of these criminal operations presents significant challenges for enforcement.” Meanwhile, data from the Hong Kong Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Centre showed that 8,142 cybersecurity incidents were recorded in the first half of 2025, marking a 49 per cent year-on-year increase, according to Edmond Lai Shiao-bun, chief digital officer at the Hong Kong Productivity Council. Phishing attacks remained the primary threat and 28,241 phishing URLs were detected, an increase of 47 per cent from the same period last year, he said. Tony Wong Chi-kwong, commissioner of the Digital Policy Office, said the office would continue to promote cybersecurity through a diverse range of initiatives for the second half of the year, including public education campaigns, industry engagement and efforts to foster cross-territory cooperation. He added that the government was highly concerned about recent cybersecurity incidents and had been consulting industry representatives on how to address new challenges. “The Digital Policy Office will coordinate and host the second Hong Kong cybersecurity attack and defence drill in October, simulating real-world cyberattacks to test the defensive capabilities of government departments and public organisations, in preparation for the National Games to be held in Hong Kong in November and the Legislative Council election in December,” Wong said. He added that there was a “medium level” of cybersecurity threats for both events. On Thursday, Hong Kong’s Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data and Macau’s Personal Data Protection Bureau, along with seven other organisations from the Asia-Pacific region, jointly released a document called the “Guide to getting started with anonymisation”. The guide offers practical steps on how organisations can make personal information anonymous so individuals cannot be identified. Privacy Commissioner Ada Chung Lai-ling highlighted that the practice of making information anonymous was vital as organisations increasingly incorporated artificial intelligence (AI) systems into their daily workflows. She added the practice was crucial for strengthening the security of the AI systems while protecting the value of the information itself.

Cybersecurity crime losses in Hong Kong up 15% year on year in first half of 2025

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Losses in first six months of year hit HK$3.04 billion, while those specifically from hacking attacks surged tenfold to HK$39.4 million

Losses in first six months of year hit HK$3.04 billion, while those specifically from hacking attacks surged tenfold to HK$39.4 million