Assistant Government Chief Information Officer of Hong Kong talks through safe mobile practises.
The Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO), the Hong Kong Police Force and the Hong Kong Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Centre jointly held a session to inform people on safe mobile phone practises.
According to Pan Shiqiang, Assistant Government Chief Information Officer (Network Security and Digital Personal Identity the “Thematic Household Survey Report No. 69” published by the Census and Statistics Department in March last year, states that more than 99 per cent of citizens use smartphones to browse the Internet.
In the past year, under the raging COVID-19 disease, remote work, online teaching, and remote business operations have all become the new normal of life, and mobile devices have become an indispensable part of our daily lives.
When mobile devices are accelerating to become mainstream Internet devices, we should not ignore the network security threats related to mobile devices. Data leakage is one of the major threats. Cybercriminals may use the leaked information to steal identity or achieve other fraudulent purposes.
These threats can come from vulnerabilities or improper configuration of the device itself, communication network, and mobile application. Therefore, everyone must strengthen their understanding of the security of mobile devices and take appropriate measures to improve their ability to resist cyber-attacks, and strengthen their alertness to the received information to avoid becoming a target of cyber-attacks.
When you use mobile devices to handle daily affairs, many companies or personal data are stored in the cloud. In a survey conducted by an information security company in 2019, the respondent’s organisation stores 45 per cent of the data in the cloud, and 42 per cent of it is more sensitive. Worryingly, many interviewees stated that their organizations had experienced data leakage incidents or had failed to pass security audits. Therefore, when using cloud services, it is extremely important to properly protect the data on the cloud platform and cannot be taken lightly.
Organisations should formulate security policies and codes related to the use of cloud services and take appropriate measures to enhance network security.
The OGCIO has been committed to enhancing the public’s awareness of information security and the ability to respond to cyber risks through various channels including websites, social media, radio program broadcasting, and cooperation with different professional organisations to organise school visits.
For example, in the past two school years (2018/19 and 2019/20 school years), we conducted more than 50 school visits and delivered information security messages to more than 12,000 teachers, students and parents. This year, we will use “Safe Use of Mobile Devices” as the theme of this webinar, hoping to enhance the safety awareness of all sectors of society on the proper protection of mobile devices.
