First published: 05th January 2010
Statistics published by the South China Morning Post show technology-related crime is set to double in 2009. The Hong Kong Police had 1,378 cases for the first 11 months of 2009, compared with 791 for the whole of 2008. The head of the Commercial Crime Bureau's technology crime division, Superintendent Terence Yeung Chi-man, blamed a lack of public awareness of internet security, saying, "in many cases the victims' computers were compromised after they visited phishing websites, which then stole their e-mail accounts".
Illegal access to computers showed the biggest rise, from 46 to 410 cases in 2008 and 2009, respectively.
Roy Ko Wai-tak of HKCERT warned that criminals were now exploiting loopholes in social networking sites such as Facebook and MSN Messenger. He said, "It is not about anti-virus software or other protection, but the awareness of internet security. People should be very careful before clicking on any hyperlinks, even when they are sent by friends."
381 cases were related to online games, with theft of virtual possessions, such as in-game items and points, being common.