Institute of Cyberspace Technology

The 2^nd Hong Kong Cybersecurity Skills Competition was successfully held on 21^st September, 2024, attracting nearly 200 elite participants from Hong Kong, Macau, and Mainland in related fields.

On the day of the awards ceremony, Mr. Lai Qian, General Manager of IntegrityTech HK Limited, Mr. Sam CHAI, Deputy General Manager of Beijing Topsec Network Security Technology Co Ltd, Hong Kong Office, and Mr. Teamo CHEN, General Manager of Hong Kong and Macau of Sangfor Technologies (Hong Kong) Limited, as well as a group of professional judges and participants, were invited to attend.

Prof. YI Chen, Associate Vice President of HKCT, stated that the ‘Hong Kong Cyber Security Skills Competition’ demonstrates HKCT's longstanding emphasis on academic education and vocational training. In recent years, HKCT has not only actively developed cyber security talent programmes recognised by qualification frameworks, but also emphasised the professional qualifications of cyber security personnel.

The competition standards and criteria follow relevant requirements of local laws and regulations of Hong Kong, as well as the professional standards for network and information security and digital forensics issued by the Ministry of Human Resources and Security of the People's Republic of China. The competition also integrated practical experience and current industry trends, knowledge, technologies, skills, equipment and related content. In addition to retaining the ‘Cyber Security’ section from last year, a new competition category on ‘Digital Forensics’ has been added this year.

The competition consists of 2 main components - theoretical knowledge and practical skills operation. Each component carries an equal weighting of 50% towards the overall score. The 5 participants with the highest scores in each category will receive special awards, including certificates issued by The Education Examination Center of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China. The First Prize winners will receive an Xbox Series X, while Second Prize winners will be awarded an iPad - 10th Gen. Each category has two winners of the 'First Prize' and three winners of the 'Second Prize'; among them, Zhi Zhuo from Harbin Institute of Technology performed exceptionally well and was awarded the 'First Prize' in both competition categories.

The second part of the awards ceremony featured a presentation by Prof. DING Yong, Dean of Institute of Cyberspace Technology of HKCT, who shared insights on their research team's involvement in the national key research and development project 'Industrial Production Control Software Security Decentralised Public Testing Technology'. The project, undertaken at the end of last year, aims to boost the security of the industrial control software system by utilisng the decentralised public testing technology to address vulnerabilities in this software. The decentralisd public testing technology for industrial production control software security will be demonstrated across five typical industries, including petroleum and petrochemicals, power generation, railway transportation, equipment manufacturing, and the steel industry. Attendees showed significant interest in the research content, testing methods, and technologies of this project.

The "Hong Kong Computer and Communications Festival 2024" held from August 23 to 26. HKCT Institute of Higher Education (HKCT) set up the booths at " The Belt and Road Software Pavilion (Hong Kong) 2024" and HKtag " Smart Technology Enhancement exhibition" to showcase the development of innovation and technology in the education sector to the public. Professor Lam Sum, Associate Vice President of HKCT, attended various events and seminar to promote cybersecurity to the public.

HKCT provided cyber range support during the “SHIELDtag 2024” - Attack and Defense (AWD) Challenge organised by HKtag on August 25. Participants in the AWD Challenge connected to HKCT cyber range and used the AWD competition features in real-time. This was the first time HKCT provided support for an AWD competition publicly.

The Belt and Road Software Pavilion (Hong Kong) 2024 brought together over a hundred top technology companies from Hong Kong, Mainland China, and other Belt and Road regions to showcase products, innovative technologies, and solutions. HKCT, along with companies such as Azonne Chinese Technology Limited, Winhong, Ruijie Networks, and FcStor, participated in the exhibition to promote collaborations between Hong Kong and Mainland China and planned for more future cooperative opportunities, including offering professional training courses and certifications.

 

On the first day of the computer festival, Professor Lam Sum, along with Mr Ivan Au, Senior Inspector of Police of the Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau, shared the themes of "Cyber Security Around Us" and "Hong Kong Cyber Security Risks and Crises" respectively, with the public. They explained the current issues in cybersecurity, shared real cases, and educated the public on how to enhance cybersecurity awareness and mitigate cyber threats.

During the panel discussion at the "HKtag Summer Achievers Gala 2024", Professor Lam and several prominent guests from the technology industry discussed "Impact of Data Security And Data Integrity On The Development Of Hong Kong As A Smart City". Professor Lam highlighted the crucial role of educational institutions in the Hong Kong innovation and technology industry, nurturing the next generation of young people to provide more cybersecurity and innovative technology talents, thereby raising industry standards, technologies, and industry norms.

HKCT Institute of Higher Education (HKCT) invited Dr. Peng Zhiniang, Chief Architect and Chief Security Researcher of Sangfor, on August 19, 2024, to give a talk on "Trends in Cybersecurity Attack and Defense Sharing: Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) and Large Language Model (GPT)". Dr. Peng explained to the participants the development of cyberspace security under the escalating cyber attacks in recent years. With over ten years of experience in cybersecurity, Dr. Peng has designed multiple threat detection and defense engines in the field of threat hunting, discovering and responding to multiple targeted advanced threat attacks. He has been ranked first in MSRC Most Valuable Security Researcher list for three consecutive quarters.

The seminar was conducted both online and offline simultaneously and attracted over a hundred participants. During the sharing session, Dr. Peng shared with the participants attackers' tactics, ATT&CK, and recent trends in cyber attacks. Faced with escalating cyber attacks, artificial intelligence technology has been widely applied in cybersecurity in recent years. Using GPT for automation and analysis can quickly analyse and integrate the types of network attacks being faced. Dr. Peng also pointed out that there has been an increasing number of APTs targeting mobile devices in recent years, stealing sensitive information from governments, military, diplomacy, research personnel, etc., which poses a threat to national security.

Dr. Peng concluded by saying, "Defenders still have a long way to go." Cybersecurity defenders must continuously enhance their defenses against attacks.

 

 

In recent years, Hong Kong has actively learned from the "National Cyber Offensive and Defensive Exercise" conducted annually between government departments and large enterprises in mainland China.

HKCT Institute of Higher Education and Integrity Tech jointly organised a 7-day "Cyber Offensive and Defensive Training" from Feb 28 to March 8, providing training for 40 participants from over 10 government departments. 

Mr LI Jia Bao, a certified cybersecurity evaluation trainer, served as the course instructor. He has ample experience in the delivery of similar training programmes. Moreover, he has participated in national and provincial level Offensive and Defensive Exercises in the past contributed to the practicality of the training and covered topics such as how loopholes can be prevented and utilised, log analysis, attack inspection, abnormal traffic analysis and blue team counter strategies, etc.

This course enhanced participants' understanding and capabilities in network attacks and defense, preparing them for cybersecurity protection in the future.

 

In order to help the government departments and organizations in Hong Kong better understand the method and process of offense and defense exercises, the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO) and HKCT Institute of Higher Education (HKCT) co-organized an "Introduction to Cybersecurity Offense and Defense Exercise" on January 5, 2024. Attendees included Mr. CHEUNG Yee Wai, Assistant Government Chief Information Officer (Cyber Security and Digital Identity) of the OGCIO, Ir Dr KWOK Lam For, Head of Lion Rock Labs of Cyberspace Security of HKCT Institute of Higher Education, Prof. LI Wai Chi, Vice President of HKCT Institute of Higher Education, Prof. LAM Sum, Associate Vice President of HKCT Institute of Higher Education. In addition, nearly a hundred participants were invited to attend, including representatives from the Security Bureau, Hospital Authority, Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department, Hong Kong Police Force.

We have invited Mr. HUANG Qi, Assistant President of Integrity Technology Co Ltd, Head of Security Data Analysis Research and Security Service Control Research and Development Centre as speaker. He introduced the mainland's cybersecurity offense and defense exercises and shared case studies. 

Mr. HUANG pointed out in his sharing that most people are generally unaware of and unconcerned about cybersecurity incidents happening around the world. He said, "All victims believed they were safe before being attacked." Therefore, cybersecurity offense and defense exercises have become even more important. He emphasized that many attacks often stem from trust and carelessness, so we must establish security awareness, strengthen the cultivation of cybersecurity awareness, and organise more cybersecurity offense and defense exercises and "let mistakes happen on the cyber range" instead of the reality.

 

In response to the high attention to cybersecurity in the "Policy Address" released on October 25, HKCT Institute of Higher Education held the "Lion Rock" Symposium of Cyberspace on October 27, 2023.

Professor LEI Zhibin, Secretary-General of the Institute of Web 3.0 Hong Kong, was invited as the officiating guest, along with Mr WANG Zhongru, Director of the Information Centre of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in HKSAR, and several guests from the information technology and academic fields attended the event.

The Symposium themed "Digital Security and Privacy - Mainland Experience Sharing," invited 4 heavyweight experts in the field of cyberspace, including Dr. Huang Jiwu, a distinguished professor at Shenzhen University and winner of the National Distinguished Young Fund , Researcher Li Fenghua, Deputy Chief Engineer of the Institute of Information Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and expert of the State Council's Cyberspace Security Discipline Review Group, Professor Yang Tingting, a researcher at the Pengcheng Laboratory and Minister of the Ministry of Education, and Professor Sun Guozi, Director of the Institute of Data Security Compliance Application Technology at Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications. They respectively gave presentations on 4 topics: "Forgery of Image Evidence," "Development Trends and Applications of Data Security and Privacy Computing in the Sharing Environment," "Ten Fundamental Issues of Computing Power and Security Networks," and "Electronic Data Forensic Technology: Opportunities and Challenges."

The event was open to the public and attracted many teachers and students from HKCT and other tertiary institutions as well as people interested in cybersecurity.

In response to the China Cybersecurity Week, HKCT Institute of Higher Education (HKCT) held a "Mainland Cyber Offense and Defense Drill" Seminar to foster exchanges and experience sharing between mainland and Hong Kong cybersecurity workforce.

Mr XIE Shaozhi, Security Technology Service Centre of Topsec Technologies Group shared the trends of cybersecurity and experience of offensive and defensive drills in mainland. Over 40 participants attended and representatives came from the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, the Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau of the Hong Kong Police Force, the Information Centre of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in HKSAR and HKCT teaching staff. The content is substantial and valuable and all the guests were inspired by the sharing.

 

On the day the ICT founding ceremony was held, HKCT also hosted the Symposium of Cyberspace. Numerous cyberspace specialists and scholars supported the event. Dr WEN Sheng from Swinburne University of Technology, Professor ZHANG Weizhe, Deputy Director of the New Network Department of Peng Cheng Laboratory, and Professor MA Zhuo, Deputy Director of the Scientific Research Institute of Xi’an University of Electronic Science and Technology, respectively delivered a keynote speech entitled “How can we guarantee Web 3’s future success?”, “Security risks and strategy related to internet domain names”, and “Machine unlearning mechanism and its security application”.

In addition, Professor MA Jianfeng, Director of the Department of Cyberspace Security of Xi’an University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Professor ZHANG Xiaosong, Director of the Institute of Cyberspace Security of the University of Electronic Science and Technology, Professor LI Xiaoyong, Executive Dean of the School of Cyberspace Security of Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, and Professor CAI Jingjing, Chairperson of Yongxin Zhicheng Technology Co., Ltd., took part in a roundtable forum on the development of the cyberspace security discipline and talent grooming. Professor DING Yong, Dean of ICT, was the moderator. All the guests in attendance praised the specialists and scholars for their professional insight that helped enhance their understanding of cybersecurity.

 

HKCT joined hands with the Hong Kong Computer Society to organise the first “Hong Kong Cybersecurity Skills Competition” on 15th April, 2023. The competition had the support of the government, the business sector and the academia, including the Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau of the Hong Kong Police Force, the I.T. People Association of Hong Kong (ITPA), the Association of I.T. Leaders in Education (AiTLE) and Department of Computer Science of The University of Hong Kong.

On the day the award presentation ceremony was held, we invited Ms. SIU Ka Yi, Political Assistant to Secretary for Education, Dr CHENG Chung Ngam, Hong Kong Computer Society, Professor CHAN Cheuk Hay, President and Principal of HKCT Institute of Higher Education and Hong Kong College of Technology and all professional judges and participants to attend. The participants were students of higher education institutions, people working in industries such as telecommunications, internet service and network security, as well as people aspiring to join the cybersecurity sector. A total of 77 participants were shortlisted to enter the finals.

LI Zhenyu from the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and YU Tianren from Chaoyang, Liaoning Province, came out as winners with a score of 95 and 92.5 respectively (100 being the full score). They were recognised by the Education Examination Centre of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology
of the People’s Republic of China, according to specific rules, as a Network and Information Security Management Engineer (Senior). They were also awarded the Certificate of Network and Information Security Management (Senior) issued by the Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Public Security, a cash prize of HK$20,000 and employment opportunities.

 

 

Learn more:
Please click the link below for more details.
Press Coverage of Competition (Chinese only)
Press Coverage of Award Ceremony
Competition details and the List of Winners

The Simulated Cyber Attack and Defence Competition 2022-23, organised by the Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau, was successfully completed on 11th February, 2023. 14 teams, hailing from Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau, joined the competition on cyber ranges of the three areas. A series of competitions, including cyber intelligence gathering, digital forensics, case investigation and incident response were held. 

Our Higher Diploma in Cybersecurity (Testing and Compliance) year 1 students formed a team called Casual Player to take part in the competition. HKCT students won sixth place among the 14 teams. Among the Hong Kong teams, they came second. It was their first-time taking part in such a big cybersecurity competition and the brilliant results they achieved were very encouraging.

5 of the students took part in the competitions, namely LIU Yu Xuan, CHU Chun Ning, LEUNG Yung Ki, WONG Chun Yu and FUNG Man Fung.

 

 

 

HKCT teamed up with China Unicom Mobile to host the “Cybersecurity Seminar on Education”. The activity had full support of the Hong Kong Direct Subsidy Scheme Schools Council, the Hong Kong Subsidized Secondary Schools Council and the Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau of the Hong Kong Police Force.

We had invited several heavyweight guests to attend, including Dr MENG Shusen, Chairman and President of the China Unicom Global Limited, Mr SZE Chun Fai, Administrative Assistant to Secretary for Education, Dr LAW Yuet-wing, Assistant Commissioner and Regional Commander (Kowloon East) of the Hong Kong Police Force, Ms CHENG Lai Ki, Chief Superintendent of Police of the Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau of the Hong Kong Police Force, Mr LEE Ching-Pong, Assistant Hon. Secretary of the Hong Kong Subsidized Secondary Schools Council, Mr WANG Ting, Representative of the Hong Kong Direct Subsidy Scheme Schools Council and Professor CHAN Cheuk Hay, President and Principal of HKCT Institute of Higher Education and Hong Kong College of Technology.

The speaker shared information on technology crimes in recent years, the importance of cybersecurity, the industry's demand for relevant professionals, etc. The seminar was informative and useful to raise public awareness of cybersecurity. The seminar had attracted nearly three hundred of secondary and tertiary teachers and students, the education sector and people who are interested in cybersecurity, to participate physically and online.

Event Highlight:

中國聯通國際有限公司董事長兼總裁孟樹森博士

「資訊技術日新月異，網路連接讓世界變成了「地球村」，網路成為與陸、海、天同等重要的人類互動新領域。」

助理警務處處長東九龍總區指揮官羅越榮博士

 「全球對網絡安全人才的需求愈來愈多，由2013年的100萬攀升至去年350至420萬人，升幅高達350%。」

教育局局長政治助理施俊輝先生

「政府內部成立了資訊保安管理委員會及資訊科技保安工作小組，以監督整個政府內部的資訊科技保安工作。各部門亦會設立包括管理和技術人員在內的資訊保安事故應變小組處理日常所有事項，以準備、偵測和應對所有資訊保安事件及事故。」

 

港專校長陳卓禧教授

「港專未來將為中學畢業生開辦與網絡安全相關的高等應用課程，為行業從業人員開辦專業發展課程，為學界和社會舉辦普及性的教育活動。」

香港警務處網絡安全及科技罪案調查科總警司鄭麗琪女士

「每個市民都應該提升自身網絡安全、防罪意識同守法意識，以免成為受害人，甚至誤墮法網成為加害者。」

中國聯通國際有限公司高級信息安全工程師史芳玲女士

「過去8年全球網絡安全空缺職位的數量增長了350%，從2013年的100萬個職位增加到2021年的350萬個。而電訊行業內有關網絡安全的職位一般包括網絡安全工程師（初、中、高）、資訊安全工程師（初、中、高）、安全運營/安全運營總監、安全產品經理、安全諮詢經理等。」

港專協理副校長林森教授

「網絡安全其實和大多數人關係密不可分，惟因為大眾對網絡安全缺乏認知，或心存僥倖，不想麻煩等想法令推廣網絡安全變得困難。」