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The Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau (CSTCB) held a counter-terrorism exercise, codenamed “LIMITCOVER”, with the Civil Aviation Department (CAD) at the CAD Headquarters on April 17. Airport District (APTDIST), the Airport Security Unit (ASU) and the Critical Infrastructure Security Coordination Centre also participated in the exercise. Deputy Commissioner (Operations) (DCP OPS) Siu Chak-yee was present to direct the exercise and encourage the participating officers.
DCP OPS said that a series of cases involving explosives and firearms had occurred in Hong Kong in recent years, showing signs of the breeding of local terrorism. The Force and stakeholders would continue to conduct multi-agency exercises with a view to enhancing counter-terrorism capability as well as strengthening the response, coordination and communication capabilities.
In the exercise, an armed terrorist trespassed into the CAD Headquarters and took the staff hostage. The terrorist attempted to intrude into the CAD’s computer system to cause serious casualties and economic losses. Upon detecting the intrusion attempt, CAD officers immediately isolated the concerned system and switched to a fallback system in accordance with established procedures to ensure the service was not disrupted. Officers of APTDIST and ASU arrived at the scene promptly and subdued the terrorist before he staged an attack. Officers of the E-Security Audit and Incident Response Team of the CSTCB also conducted incident response with CAD officers at the scene, which included case investigation, digital evidence preservation and restoration of the system.
The exercise not only enhanced the readiness and response capabilities of the Force and other stakeholders in handling cyber and physical terrorist attacks, but also raised the public’s awareness of counter-terrorism.
