HK Exchange site hit again by foreign hackers

For the second day, hackers attacked the site of the Hong Kong stock exchange, even as authorities said the attacks originated from "outside Hong Kong." The Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEx) said it has put filters in place to ward off further attacks on its website. "Experts from the technology vendor supplying HKEx’s intrusion protection technology successfully implemented a filter mechanism to fend off further attacks last night. Today, HKEx is still observing malicious traffic attempting to access the HKExnews website and is continually adjusting and strengthening the filter mechanism," it said in a statement. The website came under attack on Wednesday, prompting HKEx to halt afternoon trading. But since Wednesday's interruption, HKEx said its Information Technology team has been working closely with local and overseas security experts to investigate the cause of the attack and restore normal service. Initial investigation showed the attacks were deliberate and involved a "mixture" of techniques. "In the course of the investigation, it was determined that a mixture of attacking techniques had been deployed to intentionally interrupt the operation of the HKExnews website. The malicious traffic originated from a network of personal computers, the majority of which were based outside Hong Kong," it said. For now, HKEx said it is also in close cooperation with the Technology Crime Division of the Hong Kong police. Also, it has adopted a series of measures to ensure the market functions normally and investors continue to have timely access to announcements by issuers. One such measure is a decentralized mode of access to company announcements, as it cited the risk of possible further organized attacks on a central depository of company disclosures. These include:

• The Bulletin Board Service (www.bulletinboard.hk), which contains a list of all documents published by issuers and refers users to the issuers’ websites to view these documents. The website address of the issuers can be found on the Bulletin Board.
• Paid advertisements in newspapers starting Friday, where HKEx will publish paid advertisements in selected local newspapers with a list of companies which plan to release results announcements.
• Email and third-party portals: HKEx will also send snapshots of the notices of announcements published on the Bulletin Board by email to all Exchange Participants, Clearing Participants, Information Vendors and the media for their publication and further dissemination to clients and the public. HKEx will also post snapshots of this information through agreements with selected portals and other media websites. An announcement will be made shortly once this service commences.

"We are also exploring the possibility of selected mass portals publishing all issuer disclosures in parallel with the HKExnews website for public information," HKEx said. Over the long-term, The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, in consultation with the Listing Committee and the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), will explore an enhanced distribution model whereby the transparency of the market relating to issuers’ disclosure will be expanded beyond the HKExnews website. "HKEx takes this incident very seriously and will continue reviewing its procedures, together with the Listing Committee and the SFC, to ensure that investors are protected and the market operates with full transparency," HKEx said. — TJD, GMA News