HK hit by massive surge in cybercrime

Calls on business to prepare for large-scale attacks.

The Hong Kong Computer Emergency Response Team has reported a huge surge in computer hacking and botnet reports in the first six months of the year.

More than half of the 622 security incidents handled by HKCERT came from botnets and hacking in the first half of 2013. There has also been a rise in denial-of-service (DoS) attacks and mobile and cloud security incidents.

Bots are a type of malware that allow hackers to take control of computers and turn them into a “botnet” to spread viruses and spam and commit online crime.

HKCERT senior consultant Leung Siu-Cheong called on businesses to establish policies that classify and protect sensitive data. These should also manage the use of mobile devices and the service level of their cloud service providers.

Analysts said that cyber attacks were no longer just an IT department problem. They noted three risks that businesses need to increasingly factor into their operations: director and executive liability risk, brand risk and supply chain risk.

HKCERT will launch a new quarterly report next month with statistics of hacked computers in Hong Kong using data collected from worldwide security researchers. A drill is planned for November to strengthen the readiness of critical internet infrastructure providers against cyber attacks.