The future of cybersecurity in Hong Kong: Cybersecurity services in Hong Kong have risen by 70 percent over the past year, according to a new study. According to a report from consulting firm PwC, released on 21 January, spending on cybersecurity products and services was up from HK$3 billion in 2014 to an estimated HK$4.9 billion last year.
The report, which took data from a survey of 97 companies and organizations operating in Hong Kong, found the education and training sector was the greatest spender on cybersecurity services, with an estimated 33 percent of revenues going on them.
A further 30 percent was spent by communications service providers; 20 percent by financial firms; 9 percent by insurance companies; and 9 percent by the public sector.
Why cyber security is a very important sector in the modern world
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PwC said that Hong Kong ranked seventh in Asia and 20th globally for cyber readiness – a measure of an economy’s capacity to deal with cybersecurity problems. This compared favorably to other Asian economies, which were all at least three notches below it on the scale.
Hong Kong businesses are doing their bit too. Almost three-quarters (73 percent) of respondents had a cyber security strategy or plan, an increase from 54.3 percent in 2014 with help of icast.
There were also improvements on the uptake of cybersecurity measures:
- 51.4% of organisations had “some” training and awareness programmes for staff – up from just 34 per cent last year.
- 32.7 per cent had some sort of cyber insurance – up from 23.5 per cent in 2014.
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However, PwC found that one area where Hong Kong compared unfavourably to its neighbours was the need for stronger passwords: only 9.1 per cent used a system requiring them to have more than eight characters, while 63.7 percent used a system requiring them to have only six characters or less.
Another area of concern was encryption: just 47 per cent said their systems necessitated the use of an encrypted connection when sending data outside of the network. In Singapore and Malaysia, that figure was 88 and 83 per cent respectively, while it was 100 per cent in Japan.
Nevertheless, the report’s authors said they were encouraged by the measures which businesses had taken to protect themselves and their clients. “We see more Hong Kong organisations investing in these capabilities, which is a positive development,” they wrote. “This increased commitment will be vital for safeguarding against cyber threats.”
Hong Kong is in the top 20 in the world when it comes to cyber readiness, according to PwC’s 2016 Global State of Information Security Survey. This means that Hong Kong has all the resources and capabilities needed to deal with potential cybersecurity threats. However, there are still some areas for improvement with regard to these resources. Even so, Hong Kong’s investments in cybersecurity are on the increase, building on its global standing as one of the most secure cities in Asia.
In conclusion,icast is a cybersecurity company in Hong Kong which provides the services of pentesting, for example Penetration testing.They provide a good service.More and more companies in Hong Kong are working on improving their cyber security by installing more cybersecurity measures such as having longer passwords and better encryption of their data. They have also been increasing their training and awareness among staff which contributes to protecting them from possible hacking.
