HKCERT Territory-wide Drill Tackles Hacktivist Attacks

With a surge in distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, the Hong Kong Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Centre (HKCERT) recently (31 October 2012) conducted a territory-wide drill to strengthen the preparedness of local internet service providers and mobile network operators to handle such threats.

According to HKCERT, managed by the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC), 352 hacking cases were reported in the first 10 months of 2012, up 21% from the same period last year.

Mr S C Leung, Senior Consultant of HKCERT, said, “The alarming trend urges for collective efforts to take down malicious websites and botnets that launch the attacks. At the drill, with the coordinated efforts of the participants, we successfully identified and took down the malicious websites that control the botnets and distribute malwares.”

With “Defending Against Hacktivist Cyber Attack” being the theme of the drill, various scenarios of DDoS attacks by a “hacktivist group” targeting a local supermarket were simulated, which required immediate actions by various parties. The drill tested their malware detection and malicious website tracking capabilities as well as incident handling procedures.

The drill participants included the Hong Kong Police, the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, internet service providers, mobile network operators and other key players in the internet community (Appendix). This is the first time that mobile network operators are invited to participate as prompted by the rise in malwares and botnets reported on these networks.

HKCERT conducts a territory-wide drill to strengthen the preparedness of local internet service providers and mobile network operators to handle distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks

Appendix

HK Cyber Security Drill 2012

List of Participating Organizations

Exercise Control Team

• Hong Kong Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Centre
• Hong Kong Police Force, HKSAR Government
• Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, HKSAR Government
• The DotAsia Organization
• Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation
• Hong Kong Internet Service Providers Association

Players

• Network providers:
  • Hutchison Telecommunications (Hong Kong) Limited
  • Hutchison Global Communications Limited
  • Hong Kong Broadband Network Limited
  • Information Technology Service Centre, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
• Domain Name Registrars:
  • UDomain Web Hosting Company
  • Speedy Group Corporation