On Incidents of Unauthorized Access to the Computer Systems of HKU POPBack

Press Release on June 22, 2013

The Public Opinion Programme (POP) at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) recently discovered a series of unauthorized access since early May on its computer systems as well as that of its HKU host. Such attacks at their early stage involved only alterations of some website contents, but subsequently developed into suspected theft of sensitive information. At that stage POP immediately reported the case to the Police, and also informed the relevant departments of the University. POP would pay every effort to assist the Police in their investigation on whether personal data has been leaked, in order to take appropriate actions. Since the Commercial Crime Bureau of the Hong Kong Police Force has already started its investigation, POP does not have anything to add at this moment, and we regretably do not intend to accept any media interview.

Robert CHUNG Ting-yiu, Director of POP, remarks, “We at POP thank everybody for their concerns. We will stand firm on our post to continue our professional research. We do not have the resources to engage ourselves in cyber wars. We hope people understand the importance of independent research, and do not wage any unnecessary battle on us, both in the public domain and in cyber space.”