Hong Kong cyber drill expands with private sector debut
AM730 · 1 SOURCESabout 7 hours ago2 MIN
Summary
Hong Kong’s “Cybersecurity Attack and Defence Drill — Building Defence Through Offence 2026” ran for three consecutive days from October 29 and ended on the night of October 31 after 60 hours of live exercises. The event tested participating organisations’ defensive deployment and incident response through simulated real-world cyber threat scenarios, with private companies joining the defending side for the first time alongside government departments and public bodies.
Key Points
- The drill was led by the Digital Policy Office and co-organised with the Security Bureau’s Office of the Commissioner for Critical Infrastructure (Computer-system Security), the Hong Kong Police Force’s Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau, Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation Limited, Cyberport, the Hong Kong Cybersecurity Professionals Association and the Hong Kong Institute of Information Technology.
- Organisers said the exercise used “real personnel, real networks and real combat” methods, with red teams probing for system weaknesses to test blue teams’ defensive reactions in simulated threat environments.
- This year’s blue teams totalled 51, covering 28 government departments and 23 designated information systems from public organisations and private enterprises, marking the first inclusion of private firms on the defending side.
- The 23 red teams included 15 experienced cybersecurity organisations from Hong Kong and the mainland, four tertiary institutions, three top attack teams recommended by the Cyberspace Administration of Guangdong Province, and one team sent by the Digital Policy Office.
- The Digital Policy Office also invited 17 cybersecurity companies from Hong Kong and the mainland to provide technical support to blue teams, while representatives from more than 80 organisations attended as observers.
Why It Matters
The expanded format gives Hong Kong a broader test of how government, public bodies and private operators respond under pressure when facing realistic cyberattack scenarios. It also deepens cross-border industry and talent exchanges with the mainland while building a larger pool of organisations familiar with live cyber defence exercises.