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Following is a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Ambrose S K Lee, to a question by the Hon Sin Chung-kai on Internet or computer-related crimes in the Legislative Council today (June 6):
Question:
Regarding Internet or computer-related crimes ("technology crimes"), will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it has studied the reasons for the upward trend in the number of technology crimes in recent years; if it has, of the results of the study and the measures to curb such a trend; if not, the reasons for that;
(b) of the number of reported cases and detection rate of technology crimes in the past three years; how this detection rate compares to those of other types of crimes, and the relevant reasons therefor;
(c) of the number of law enforcement officers responsible for investigating technology crimes, their turnover rate in the past three years, and whether it has assessed the impact of manpower in this respect on the detection rate;
(d) of the number of law enforcement officers who have participated in the Computer Forensics Certification Course organised by the Hong Kong Police Force ("HKP") since 2005; whether it has assessed the effectiveness of the course; if it has, of the criteria adopted in making and the results of such an assessment; if not, the reasons for that; whether there are measures to encourage law enforcement officers to participate in the course; if so, of the details of such measures; if not, the reasons for that; and
(e) of the channels through which the Technology Crime Prevention Unit of HKP educate the public on the measures to prevent technology crimes?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) The rise in the number of technology crimes is believed to be directly related to the increasing popularity of Internet usage and online games.
About half of the technology crimes handled by the Police are related to online games, involving inadequate awareness of online security on the part of some online game players. Most of the other cases are of a relatively minor nature and do not involve a large amount of money. The Police will continue to enhance their professional ability and efficiency in order to keep abreast with developments in technology to deal with these crimes. They will also, through staff training and strengthening intelligence exchange with the trade and local and overseas law enforcement agencies, combat technology crimes.
For cyber crimes related to infringing copyrights (mainly including Internet piracy, promotion and selling of counterfeiting or pirated goods over the Internet), the Customs and Excise Department (C&ED) has been keeping the trend under close review and put every effort in keeping taps on the most recent modes of operation. C&ED also closely liaises with relevant parties to clamp down on piracy works. In addition, C&ED has collaborated with the academic sector in developing a monitoring software to further enhance the efficiency of enforcement actions.
(b) From 2004 to 2006, 560, 653 and 741 cases of technology crimes respectively were reported to the Police each year, with the respective detection rates being about 20%, 10% and 10%. The detection rates are lower compared to the overall detection rate (about 44%) during the same period. The main reasons include:
* Some technology crimes involve personalities and servers outside Hong Kong. This has created difficulties for investigation; and
* Criminals can more easily conceal their identities on the Internet, resulting in difficulties in verifying and tracing their real identities.
C&ED received 205, 347 and 469 complaints related to infringing copyrights on the Internet respectively in each year from 2004 to 2006. Most of the complaints were related to the selling of copyright-infringing goods in auction sites. Among the complaints, seven, 15 and 18 cases respectively resulted in seizures of infringing materials. For most complaints, no further follow-up actions can be taken due to inaccurate or insufficient details being provided, the suspected infringing goods having already been delisted from the Internet, or that the goods not being counterfeits after seizure identifications. Therefore, the efficiency of law enforcement actions cannot be assessed solely based on the above numbers.
(c) Different units of the Police are responsible for the investigation of technology crime cases, depending on their seriousness and complexity. These include the Technology Crime Division of the Commercial Crime Bureau (with a total strength of 44 police officers), the Technology Crime Units at the Regional level (12 police officers in each land Region, making a total of 60 officers), and the Crime Investigation Teams of the respective Police Districts / Divisions.
In addition, to assist frontline investigators in handling technology crimes and collecting digital evidence more effectively, the Police have established the "Technology Crime Initial Response Cadre", which is made up of 120 Cadre Members. Apart from performing their daily duties, these Cadre Members are on stand-by round-the-clock, providing support to frontline investigators as necessary.
C&ED established two Anti-Internet Piracy Teams (AIPTs) in 2000 and 2005 respectively. Each team comprises seven Customs officials who have attended professional courses on the latest investigative tools to tackle cyber crimes. They are responsible for monitoring and detecting activities over Internet forums and auction sites for selling counterfeiting goods.
Overall speaking, the number of officers responsible for investigation of technology crimes has been maintained at an appropriate level.
(d) With a view to improving the professional knowledge in computer forensics among law enforcement officers, the Police have been conducting different courses in the relevant areas in recent years. Apart from Police officers, these courses have also been attended by relevant officers from other law enforcement departments. In 2005, the Police began to conduct the "Computer Forensics Certification Course". To date, two classes have been conducted, with 39 officers passing the courses. In 2007, the Police conducted the "Application Computer Forensics Course" to further enhance the professional capability of serving computer forensics examiners. So far, 22 officers have completed this course. To introduce the work of computer forensics to more law enforcement officers and to ensure that the Police have a sufficient pool of readily trained officers in future to meet the increasing demand in the area, the Police also launched the "Introduction to Computer Forensics" course in 2007. Sixteen officers have enrolled in the first class of the course.
The three computer forensics courses above will continue to be conducted in future. Their curriculums are subject to stringent and professional assessment of the Police College to ensure their practicality and to ensure that digital evidence collected in accordance with the computer forensics procedures is admissible in legal proceedings. As these courses can raise the level of professionalism among law enforcement officers, the response among the officers has been encouraging. Various departments will encourage their officers to attend these courses in accordance with the needs of their duties and their professional training background.
(e) In respect of public education to prevent technology crimes, the Police have taken a number of measures, including:
(i) Publishing information on prevention of technology crimes at the Police website (http://www.police.gov.hk) for reference by the public;
(ii) Implementing the Technology Crime Prevention Strategy to promote information technology security and cyber ethics among youths. This includes talks on prevention of technology crimes at schools, tertiary institutions and vocational training institutes, and for different sectors of the community;
(iii)Joining hands with the Education and Manpower Bureau and relevant institutions on a programme titled "Cyber Ethics for Students and Youth", and setting up a website (http://cesy.qed.hkedcity.net) which provides a wealth of information on cyber ethics and technology crime prevention;
(iv) Dissemination of technology crime prevention and related issues to the public through the television programme "Police Report";
(v) In respect of the Junior Police Call, conducting the "Junior Police Call Information Technology Security Ambassadors" programme in conjunction with a private company to disseminate technology crime prevention messages through a cadre of ambassadors to their peers and schoolmates; and
(vi) Working in collaboration with the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer and the Hong Kong Computer Emergency Response Team since 2005 to promote the "Hong Kong Clean PC Campaign". The campaign aims at enhancing people's awareness of information technology security so as to minimise the chance of their computers being compromised.
Ends/Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Issued at HKT 15:35
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