‘Hack’ put racy model pics on Hong Kong chief CY Leung’s Facebook page sparking police probe
A police probe is underway after Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said his Facebook account was hacked and pictures of scantily-clad female models added to his list of friends.
The investigation – by the specialist cybercrime unit of the Hong Kong police – was launched after the office of the city’s leader complained Leung’s account had been tampered with, new friends added and his profile picture changed on December 24.
If true, the hacking allegations would make Leung one of the first heads of government to have their Facebook account hacked.
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It would also pile pressure on the social networking giant to explain what would be an embarrassing security breach in one of their most important and heavily used global markets.
The hacking claim came just months after Facebook upped security and promised to send account users who have been hacked a message alerting them to that fact. It was unclear if Leung received such a warning message.
A report in Next Magazine and on Apple Daily’s website yesterday revealed that at least 14 scantily-clad young women had appeared as Leung’s friends.
Privacy settings on the chief executive’s Facebook page, which was launched in October, were notoriously tight. Most users could only see some of his politician, journalist or academic “friends” – such as the education minister Eddie Ng Hak-kim and the University of Hong Kong’s law lecturer Eric Cheung Tat-ming.
Leung’s page also stated that it had received too many friend requests and could not take more.
“Some information and settings have been modified, some posts have been deleted, some ‘new friends’ have been added, and the profile picture of the chief executive’s Facebook page has been changed [by the suspected hacker],” the statement said.
December 24 was the day Leung concluded his annual duty visit in Beijing, returning the same day. Leung’s information coordinator Andrew Fung Wai-kwong, who helps run the Facebook page did not travel with Leung.
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Responding to suggestions he had mistakenly added the pictures of the young women, Fung said the statement by the chief executive’ s office had stated clearly that Leung’s Facebook page was suspected to have been hacked and “friends” added.
The incident was reminiscent of an embarrassing episode in which Democratic Party lawmaker Albert Ho Chun-yan was caught flipping through pictures of bikini-clad women on his tablet during a Legislative Council meeting last year.
