New HKCERT Centre Opens to Combat Emerging Cyber Threats

Mr Daniel Lai, Government Chief Information Officer, and Mrs Agnes Mak, Executive Director of HKPC officiated the opening ceremony

The Hong Kong Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Centre (HKCERT) is further empowered to keep new vicious cyber threats at bay, thanks to the funding support from the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer of the HKSAR.

The new HKCERT Centre, which is about thrice of the size of the old one, now provides enhanced information security services to the local business sector and Internet users. Mr Daniel Lai, Government Chief Information Officer, and Mrs Agnes Mak, Executive Director of HKPC officiated the opening ceremony on 23 April 2012.

Mrs Mak said, “The service of the new Centre has entered a new page with enhanced services.”

She said, “Hacking attacks are becoming more covert. Many a times once a computer or a website has been hacked, with its users never even aware of it. In recent years, HKCERT has been proactively tracking these hacked cases and help clear the damage. At the same time, with large-scale cyber attacks on specific targets on the rise, the Centre has been closely monitoring abnormal activities on the Internet to uncover potential threats, issue alerts and kick-start preventive measures.”

She continued, “Smartphones have become a popular tool for surfing the net and more domestic electrical appliances also have the same function.  These developments may become new targets for hackers. The Centre has to strengthen its efforts in research and data analysis in order to identify potential cyber risks.”

The new Centre will offer incident response services for smartphone and mobile device users. It also has enhanced facilities to conduct malware and intrusion analysis, and to check for abnormal activities on the Internet.

Established in 2001, HKCERT has act as the centralized point of contact for computer incidents reporting and responses for the business sector and Internet users. It also organises seminars, and publishes newsletters and guidelines to promote awareness of information security in Hong Kong.