On May 7, 2024, the spokesperson of the Fire Services Department (FSD) in Hong Kong revealed that on the 3rd of this month, potential data leakage risks were discovered in part of one of their computer systems. However, there is no evidence to suggest that the related data has been made public. The FSD immediately reported the matter to the police and provided notifications to the Security Bureau, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data, and the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer.
According to the spokesperson, following a preliminary investigation, the FSD believes that the incident occurred during data transfer processing by an outsourced contractor, where someone unauthorizedly altered the data access permissions, leading to the potential data leakage risk. The incident involves personal information of around 480 residents who had reported tree collapse incidents during the impact of Super Typhoon Sura on September 2, 2023, including their surnames and phone numbers.
In addition, the incident also involves data of approximately 5,000 FSD staff, including names, phone numbers, ranks, IDs, and stationed posts, with incomplete identification numbers of about 960 staff members.
The FSD promptly contacted the outsourced contractor managing the system, requesting an immediate halt to system operations and all contractual work, and revoked their system access rights to prevent data leakage. The FSD and the contractor are thoroughly reviewing the incident and enhancing protective measures to prevent similar events. The FSD has also reported to the police, the Security Bureau, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data, and the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer.
The FSD has issued an apology for the incident and has notified affected residents via SMS or phone calls. If they notice any suspicious occurrences, they are advised to report them promptly to the authorities. For inquiries, residents can contact the FSD hotline at 2723 8787 or email [email protected].