Hong Kong watchdog reveals HK$46m in unauthorised stock trading amid cyberattack warnings
Nine cases resulted in losses of HK$1.56 million for which banks paid full compensation
The banking watchdog revealed on Thursday that it had received reports from banks about unauthorised stock trading activities in at least 22 online bank accounts in at least four banks. The sum involved was HK$45.97 million.
Although the Hong Kong Monetary Authority said in a press statement on Thursday that none of the cases reported resulted in any fund transfers to unregistered third parties thanks to a double authentication process, the authority said there were nine cases that resulted in financial losses of HK$1.56 million. The affected banks have already paid full compensation.
The revelation of online bank accounts being compromised came after the authority announced last week that it had plans to require banks to bolster their cybersecurity. However, it also gave assurances to the public that serious cyberattacks resulting in significant losses or service disruption were rare.
Without specifying when the reported cases occurred and exactly how the accounts were compromised, the authority added there were nine cases in which stock prices went up after the unauthorised purchase of shares.
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The authority said this did not result in any actual financial losses and it said it was still investigating why some of the cases took place.
