HKJunkCall – a service popular among Hongkongers looking to block spam and scam calls – has suffered a data breach attempt, it said in an email to users on Monday.
It is the latest in a string of Hong Kong entities to report a database security incident in recent weeks. When HKFP checked on Monday evening, HKJunkCall’s website was inaccessible with a notice saying it was down for “maintenance.”
“On May 25, 2024, we were alerted [to] a security incident concerning unauthorized access to our HKJunkCall website which was reported to us by our cloud service providers, Amazon Web Services,” the email to users said, adding that the incident affected those using Facebook or Google to log into their services.
The email said its servers had been disconnected from the internet to assess whether a privacy breach had taken place. “Our investigation subsequently revealed no evidence of customer data privacy breach or loss… we are currently re-evaluating our existing cybersecurity and data protection measures,” HKJunkCall said, with an apology.
The city’s privacy watchdog said in January that it had received more than 150 data breach notifications last year, marking a nearly 50 per cent increase compared to the previous year.
This month alone has seen privacy breaches at the Fire Services Department, the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department and the Companies Registry.
HKJunkCall said it hoped to resume services after new security measures were put in place.
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