Date: 6 May 2024
Reaching Out to the Community – Privacy Commissioner Interviewed by the Media to Explain the Findings on the Data Breach Incident of the Consumer Council
The Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (Privacy Commissioner), Ms Ada CHUNG Lai-ling, was interviewed by RTHK News’ “Hong Kong Today”, RTHK Radio 3’s “Hong Kong Today”, RTHK Radio 1’s “HK2000” and Commercial Radio’s “On a Clear Day” on 3 May to explain the findings of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (PCPD) on the data breach incident of the Consumer Council (the Council).
The Privacy Commissioner said that the investigation revealed that a hacker group had obtained the credentials of a user account with administrative privileges and gained access to the Council’s network through a Virtual Private Network. The hacker then deployed ransomware in the servers and endpoints of the Council. According to the evidence obtained in the investigation, the Council’s deficiencies included failing to enable multi-factor authentication for remote access to data, and storing personal data on testing servers.
The Privacy Commissioner emphasised the importance of safeguarding data security. To raise the awareness among companies, the PCPD has already launched the Data Security thematic webpage, the “Data Security Scanner” assessment webpage and the Data Security hotline, and will organise the “Privacy Awareness Week” in mid-May.
The interview by RTHK News’ “Hong Kong Today” can be listened
here (Chinese only) (53:57-59:34).
The interview by RTHK Radio 3’s “Hong Kong Today” can be listened
here (04:12-09:15).