The Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau (CSTCB) noticed that cyber criminals have been taking advantage of the COVID-19 outbreak and infiltrating COVID-19 themed malicious domains, malware, ransomware and phishing emails to people’s daily lives. In this regard, the CSTCB took immediate actions to liaise with overseas law enforcement agencies, information technology experts and practitioners; and to appeal to the community to remain vigilant to their online activities with a view to mitigating the cyber security threats arising from the pandemic.

On April 23, officers of the CSTCB, together with representatives from China, Japan, Singapore and South Korea, joined the virtual Cybercrime Directors Workshop organised by the INTERPOL. The workshop focused on the cyber threats and crimes such as malware, fraud and fake news caused by the outbreak of COVID-19. During the workshop, the participants exchanged related intelligence and shared their respective strategies and crime prevention campaigns.

Between April and May, Chief Superintendent of the CSTCB Dr Law Yuet-wing, in the capacity of the Chairperson of INTERPOL Global Cybercrime Expert Group (IGCEG), led three sessions of online IGCEG meeting in different time zones with 41 experts from the public and private sectors worldwide to establish a closer collaboration to tackle COVID-19 themed cyber crime. In addition to the threats and crimes identified above, the meetings discussed on the upsurge of e-shopping fraud cases, misinformation related to COVID-19 and the threats relating to online conferencing vulnerabilities. Collaborative initiatives against these threats were also put forward in the meetings. After gathering inputs from the meetings, INTERPOL has launched a global awareness campaign to alert the public to the cyber threats identified.

In view of the growing popularity of internet conferencing and webinar, the CSTCB will organise workshops on the use of internet conferencing technology in crime prevention and provide cyber security advice. Details of the workshops will be announced in due course.