Information security important to Government and community
21 - 02 - 2001

Information security is an important issue that should be proactively tackled with vigilance by both the Government and the community in Hong Kong.

Violations of information security can lead to disclosure of personal data, forgery of personal identity, tampering of data and abuse of resources, with effects ranging from embarrassment to real damage or financial loss.

Speaking in a seminar on hacking protection and recovery today (February 21), the Director of Information Technology Services, Mr Lau Kam-hung, noted that information security measures should cover more aspects than just the traditional user ID and password or installation of firewalls and anti-virus programs.

"Information security is an integral part of every computer system that requires careful consideration and planning," said Mr Lau.

"It is actually integrated into our business routines as it also addresses training, thorough understanding of our staff of the security measures, formulation of policies and procedures on the effective deployment of technology, continuous system monitoring, prompt response to incidents, and efficient recovery to minimise service disruption to a company and its clients," he said.

The Government fully recognises the importance of information security, and takes various measures to ensure the security of its information infrastructure.

Mr Lau stressed that government's effort alone was not enough. Full participation by the industry and the community to tackle information security with vigilance is also needed.

Most recently, the Government has entrusted the Hong Kong Productivity Council to establish the Hong Kong Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Centre (CERT) to act as a focal point in Hong Kong for dealing with information security incidents.

Mr Lau said,"The CERT aims at increasing the awareness of our local industry and the community on information security, and providing useful advice to them on how to deal with security incidents."

"Such advice will include information security guidelines, virus alerts and other security alerts," he added.

In the near future, the CERT will also join the Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams, which is an international organisation to bring together the efforts of nearly 100 organisations with similar objectives in different parts of the world.

Mr Lau is confident that, with the establishment of a local CERT, the work on promoting information security and dealing with information security incidents will be better coordinated.

"Coupled with the joint efforts of the Government and the community in tackling this important issue, I believe the CERT will become a cornerstone for the further development of e-commerce in Hong Kong," said Mr Lau.

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