HONG KONG

Cyber attacks on universities increasing

Cyber attacks on Hong Kong universities are on the rise amid fresh fears that state-backed hackers are the main culprits, with one campus admitting that it is fighting an unprecedented number of daily intrusions, writes Danny Lee for the South China Morning Post.

Top security experts have warned of a noticeable rise in the number of cyber attacks on the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region that bore the hallmarks of state-sponsored hackers. Bryce Boland, chief technology officer for Asia-Pacific at cyber-security firm FireEye, observed "very high" and "actively targeted" attacks on local universities that he described as "quite interesting".

The trend comes amid a fierce debate over academic freedom at the city's universities following the controversial rejection of Professor Johannes Chan Man-mun's appointment as pro-vice chancellor at the University of Hong Kong.
Full report on the South China Morning Post site