Police receive two reports over Canvas hacking attack
Police on Tuesday said they have received two requests for assistance in relation to a cyber attack on the global education platform Canvas. Chief Superintendent Raymond Lam said one report was filed by a local institution which noticed the hack after failing to log in. The other allegedly involved criminals using the incident as a pretext to attempt to deceive a resident, Lam said, adding that no losses were incurred. Lam said the police will work with overseas counterparts over the breach. “Both the system and data are stored in places outside Hong Kong,” he said. “There are certainly challenges when we intervene, but we will continue to carry out exchanges with other countries via the International Criminal Police Organisation's platform and try to understand the situation.” Lam said that risks exist with all cloud platforms and the public should pay attention to cybersecurity when using them. Nearly 9,000 education institutions worldwide are believed to have been affected by the attack on Canvas, including several in Hong Kong. Edited by Thomas McAlinden