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CCS nets 'skilful' hackers
The Force scored its biggest victory yet against computer crime with the conviction of three "professional" hackers on April 5.
One was sentenced to six months prison at Eastern Magistracy for hacking offences, while the other two were sent to a detention centre. They admitted to the charges and were released on bail pending an appeal on their sentences.
The complicated case was a first in Hong Kong, and a major victory for the Commercial Crime Bureau's (CCB) Computer Crime Section (CCS). It was the first offence charged by CCS under the Organised and Serious Crime Ordinance.
Case Officer-in-Charge Senior Inspector Anthony Fung Wai-keung described the young hackers as "habitual, skilful and professional".
"This was a very serious case involving a couple of hundred victims over several months. It was the worst case of hacking in Hong Kong on the magnitude of the high number of victims and Internet Service Providers (ISP) involved," SIP Fung said.
 Hacker crackers: SIP Anthony Fung (centre) discusses another case with his crack cyber sleuths |
"Some of the victims were even large corporations who thought their computer security was good. Hong Kong people are still quite unaware of how vulnerable their sensitive information is to hackers. Hong Kong hackers are growing and equipping themselves using experience from those overseas."
The trio hacked then sold the passwords of Internet users' accounts, building a profitable business over five months. Many of the passwords were for people's accounts on game-playing sites. The hackers would sell passwords to others for about $350 each, allowing users to play on the sites free for a month. The hackers were also adding bills to other people's accounts.
"Some victims were mysteriously running up monthly bills of several-thousand dollars and complained to their ISPs. February last year particularly, saw a lot of complaints and the ISPs called police," SIP Fung said. "We sorted and monitored affected accounts and passwords, checked records and analysed everything which eventually led us to the suspects. The operation was quite technical and complicated. We had to move quickly and go through an abundance of computer logs."
CCB Acting Chief Superintendent Peter Else said the case was significant both in terms of the success of the investigation itself and the sentences imposed. He said a clear message was sent to hackers, both locally and overseas, that Hong Kong was not a soft target and that the courts took a serious view of computer and Internet-related crime.
"It was an important case not just for the good job done by the investigating officers, but also for the significant sentence which was hefty compared to those meted out in the past," Mr Else said.
CCS was looking into several more cases featuring similar modus operandi to recent major overseas computer crimes. SIP Fung said computer crime was starting to merge with traditional crime such as blackmail, syndicated gambling and fraud, and strong deterrence should be maintained.
"Computer crime is now well-established and penalties are well-known. It is important to deter this problem as with the increasing popularity of e-commerce, overseas investors may lose confidence in Hong Kong if laws are not strong enough. This is the stance of many other countries also."
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