Cooperating with the police, the Hong Kong Consumer Council was hacked into the system and extorted 500000 US dollars: no ransom will be paid, etc. Hong Kong Consumer Council | Information | ransom
The Hong Kong Consumer Council was hacked on September 20th, lasting for 7 hours, with 80% of the system being compromised and 65GB more data than normal. Hackers have stolen data from employees of the Consumer Council, monthly magazine users, and other internal information. The attacker extorted a ransom of $500000 from the Hong Kong Consumer Council.
According to the Hong Kong Consumer Council, it was discovered on the morning of September 20th that a computer system had been hacked by malicious software, resulting in 80% of the system being compromised. The Consumer Committee took timely action to strengthen computer system protection and commissioned supervision experts to investigate.
The data stolen by hackers may include employees, former employees and their families, as well as the data of job seekers, such as ID card number, address, date of birth and resume; Consumer Council's monthly subscription information for "Choice" magazine; The information of the consumer complainant, as well as the partner information of the consumer committee, including company address, phone number, email, mobile phone number, etc. The Hong Kong Consumer Council has clearly stated that it will not pay a ransom of $500000 and will fully cooperate with the police investigation.
The Hong Kong Personal Data Privacy Commissioner's Office has confirmed that it has received notification from the Consumer Council regarding the data leakage incident and has conducted compliance checks, urging the Consumer Council to notify all affected parties as soon as possible. Considering that the incident may involve personal data leakage, the Privacy Commissioner's Office calls on those who may be affected to be vigilant and prevent data theft, including considering changing account passwords and enabling multi factor authentication functions.
If delayed, the ransom will increase to $700000, equivalent to HKD 5.47 million. The Consumer Council strongly condemns the illegal activities of hackers, emphasizes that no ransom will be paid, and deeply apologizes for any inconvenience caused to the citizens.
Chen Jinrong said that the Consumer Council fully cooperates with the police's investigation work and hopes to bring the relevant individuals to justice as soon as possible.
