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Government creates secure environment for e-business
04 - 12 - 2001
The Government has made substantial progress to improve Hong
Kong's information security infrastructure to help provide a
favourable environment for e-business to flourish.
Addressing an anti-virus researchers' conference today (December
4), the Director of Information Technology Services, Mr Alan
Wong Chi-kong, said that the Government was committed to developing
Hong Kong into a leading e-business community and one of the
important success factors was to ensure the security of electronic
transactions.
"E-business requires trust between the transacting or contracting
parties," said Mr Wong. "Without trust, the community will not
have the necessary confidence that makes transactions on-line
possible."
To instil public confidence in electronic transactions, the
Government enacted the Electronic Transactions Ordinance (ETO)
in January 2000.
Such provision of a clear legal framework for conducting business
electronically also gives electronic records and digital signatures
the same legal status and recognition as their paper-based counterparts.
On the technical aspects, the Government has also established
a framework to facilitate the community to conduct electronic
transactions through the provision of a Public Key Infrastructure
and the Voluntary Recognition Scheme for Certification Authorities.
The Hongkong Post is the first recognized public Certification
Authority (CA) in Hong Kong established under the ETO. A second
CA was granted recognition by the Director of Information Technology
Services in mid-2001.
Besides, the Government is also reviewing the legislative and
institutional arrangements with a view to combating computer-related
crime.
The Information Technology Services Department (ITSD) is in
the process of identifying the critical information infrastructures
that are potentially vulnerable to cyber attacks for the purpose
of formulating strategies for protecting them.
Other relevant bureaux and departments including the Information
Technology and Broadcasting Bureau, Security Bureau and the
Police are also involved in this process.
With the objective of enhancing Hong Kong's capabilities in
responding to information security incidents, the Government
has given full support to the establishment of the Hong Kong
Computer Emergency Response Team Co-ordination Centre in February
this year.
ITSD has also been actively participating in events such as
seminars, conferences and exhibitions to arouse public awareness
of information security, and to call for action by the community
in promoting information security.
"Industry can certainly help our cause in maintaining a secure
and stable e-business environment," said Mr Wong.
"We reasonably and legitimately expect the manufacturers of
computer hardware and software to adopt the same rigour in producing
goods that meet high information security requirements before
they are launched on the market," he added.
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