Hong Kong needs plan to deal with global IT outages, new cybersecurity chief says

He added that his office was planning cybersecurity exercises for the government network later this year.

Wong said the exercise would involve a “red team” simulating a series of attacks on various government departments and a “blue team” would act as network defenders.

A botched software update from US technology company CrowdStrike caused outages of Microsoft’s computer systems around the world last week, grounding flights, interrupting television broadcasts and disrupting banks, hospitals and retailers.

The Office of Digital Policy was created Thursday by merging the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer and the Office of Efficiency.

The government said the new scheme, announced in last year’s policy address, would accelerate the development of data governance and digital infrastructure.

Wong estimated that the city’s political offices and departments involved at least 3,000 computer systems, with more than 200 updates each year, and faced ever-evolving cyberattack threats.

Several major public agencies and private organisations faced large-scale cyberattacks last year after hackers exposed personal information and demanded large sums of money.

In May, the fire service reported a potential data breach involving the personal information of more than 5,000 members of the public and staff when an outside contractor changed data access rights without authorization.

The Consumer Council was hacked last September and attackers demanded a $500,000 ransom after breaking into 93 systems and compromising 11 servers and workstations.

High-tech business park Cyberport was also the victim of attacks last August, with more than 400GB of sensitive staff information put up for sale on the dark web.

The Digital Policy Team is made up of three branches, focusing on digital government, data governance and digital infrastructure.

They will formulate policies, encourage ministries to apply information technologies and introduce innovative public services.

The data governance branch will also promote the sharing of digitalized information, as well as the use of data analytics and applications.

The new office will also improve digital infrastructure and security, promote industry development and strengthen cooperation with mainland China, including by developing ways to improve information exchange and cross-border services.

Wong also revealed plans to install “mini-programs” in the government’s “iAM Smart” mobile app to allow the public to access different government services through a single platform.

Wong said people sometimes had to go through multiple services to register and get a single license.

“Our government organization is centered around different offices, but citizens might want the services of one government as a whole,” Wong added.

Lawmaker Johnny Ng Kit-chong said it was important to maintain the backup system regularly, while the government and companies could consider using a different brand from their main system to minimise the impact of a cyber outage.

He stressed, however, that using a different system could lead to technical challenges and enormous costs.

Fellow lawmaker Duncan Chiu urged the public and private sectors to formulate multiple contingency plans, including a manual operation proposal, and conduct drills to strengthen their capacity to cope with technical failures.

Francis Fong Po-kiu, honorary chairman of the Hong Kong Information Technology Federation, said data centres should be set up in different districts to ensure uninterrupted public service in the event of a power outage in some areas.

Sun Dong, Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, said earlier that digitalization is good for social and economic development,

He added that digital technology and data were also important to drive high-quality development and quality production.