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Hong Kong’s source of IT insight www.cw.com.hk   December 2018 • Price HK$50

     The Year of the Boar
     Break on through to the other side
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The Year of the Boar Break on through to the other side - Hong Kong's source of IT insight www.cw.com.hk - Questex
The Year of the Boar Break on through to the other side - Hong Kong's source of IT insight www.cw.com.hk - Questex
CONTENTS
                                                          DECEMBER 20 18
                                                W    W    W   .   C    W    .   C   O   M   .   H   K

  Technology
Trendlines 2019
  Break on through to
     the other side
                        4                       14
         PAGE 20
                        71                                        12

                             4   upfront                          16       forecast2019
                             Security: the little black           What can techies expect in
                             dress                                the Year of the Boar?

                             6   news                             71       hkcsview
                                                                  Time to shine
                             10   review2018
                             Inno-tech made great
                             strides in Hong Kong

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The Year of the Boar Break on through to the other side - Hong Kong's source of IT insight www.cw.com.hk - Questex
UPFRONT STEFAN HAMMOND

   Security: the little
   black dress                                                                                      http://www.cw.com.hk
                                                                                                    Computerworld Hong Kong is published by Questex Asia Ltd,
                                                                                                    13/F, 88 Hing Fat Street, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong.

   I
                                                                                                    GROUP PUBLISHER Simon Yeung syeung@questexasia.com

                                                                                                    EDITORIAL
        n 2004, I was interviewed by a long-        ger of Hong Kong businesses falling five        EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Stefan Hammond shammond@questexasia.com

        gone media outlet on my then-role as        years behind on cyberdefense levels, and        DEPUTY EDITOR Gigi Onag gigionag@questexasia.com
                                                                                                    DEPUTY EDITOR Nancy Ho nancyho@questexasia.com
        Assistant Editor for Computerworld          a lack of readiness to detect and remediate     DESIGN MANAGER Pauline Wong pwong@questexasia.com

   Hong Kong. They asked me what topic I            cyber threats.”                                 SALES
   covered most often. My reply: “Security,             2018 was also the year of the GDPR—         ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Connie Yip cyip@questexasia.com

   because it’s like the Little Black Dress: it     the first true twenty-first century data pri-
                                                                                                    ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Ray Wong raywong@questexasia.com
                                                                                                    SENIOR SALES & MARKETING EXECUTIVE
   never goes out of style.”                        vacy protection law. Prior to its enactment      Suki Kong sukikong@questexasia.com

        Back then I toted a Nokia 3310 phone        on May 25, separate EU countries won            ADMINISTRATION

   which had an LED as a flashlight, a state-       judgements against firms judged to be in        AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
                                                                                                     Will Ahmad will@questexasia.com
   of-the-art mobile. Nowadays I carry a            breach of EU data privacy laws. In May          CIRCULATION MANAGER Shipman Kwok skwok@questexasia.com

   computer with a built-in radio transmitter       2017, the French National Commission            MANAGEMENT
   and receiver, because that’s what a smart-       on Computing and Liberty fined Face-            REGIONAL HR & ADMIN DIRECTOR

   phone is. Almost everyone in Hong Kong           book and Facebook Ireland €150,000—
                                                                                                     Janis Lam janislam@questexasia.com
                                                                                                    ACCOUNTING MANAGER Nancy Chung nchung@questexasia.com
   has one now, and these devices each have         the maximum fine at that time—for data
   more computing power than all of US              privacy violations.
   space agency NASA had when they put                  “That might be enough to persuade           Computerworld Hong Kong is published twice annually. All material
   a man on the moon. We use them for all           smaller businesses to change their behav-       is Copyright 2018 by Questex LLC, Inc. Reproduction is strictly forbidden

   sorts of things, but in the MTR, it seems        ior, but for Facebook it’s just 25 minutes’     without written permission.

   like plenty of users view these magical          profit,” wrote tech journalist Peter Sayer.     Sales and Custom Publishing Enquiries:

   slabs of glass as personal TV sets, which        “From May 25, 2018, though, the GDPR
                                                                                                    E-mail can be sent to syeung@questexasia.com

   is fine (especially as Hong Kongers know         will introduce a single set of privacy rules
   to wear earphones for their personal             across the EU’s 28 member states, and
   soundtracks).                                    raise fines to €20 million or four percent
        But one thing hasn’t changed: secu-         of worldwide revenue.”                          Computerworld Hong Kong is circulated to IT, computing and

   rity. As we go to press, the Cathay Pacific          Fashions come and go, as do buzz-           internet companies and other private and public companies who use IT
                                                                                                    and computing. It is edited for IT professionals, engineers, and senior
   data breach is still an issue. And PwC           words and new technologies. In 2018 we          managers responsible for design, installation, marketing and maintenance

                        Hong Kong Cyber-            saw massive interest in AI, the IOT, 5G,
                                                                                                    of IT systems and networks. Free subscription offer valid in Hong Kong
                                                                                                    only. To subscribe, go to www.cw.com.hk.
                         security and Privacy       digital transformation, edge computing,
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                               We see a real dan-   Onward to 2019!	                         3     Computerworld Hong Kong is on sale in Hong Kong at HK$50 per issue.

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                                                                    Computerworld Hong Kong

   4 Computerworld Hong Kong December 2018                                                                                                             www.cw.com.hk
The Year of the Boar Break on through to the other side - Hong Kong's source of IT insight www.cw.com.hk - Questex
Brought to you by HKT
Enterprises face a critical need to
get ahead in the security arms race
WITH THE PROMISE OF EVERYTHING CONNECTED TO EVERYTHING                      To meet this critical need, HKT is providing a fully integrated
VIA IOT, businesses must redefine business models and operations        Security-as-a-Service (SECaaS) solution to businesses of all sizes. HKT
to take advantage of this new opportunity but also manage the           is leveraging the Fortinet Security Fabric, an architectural approach
increased risks. The prospect of pervasive always-on connectivity       to security designed to integrate security solutions into a unified
between humans and machines is leading to IoT-related security          framework. HKT is the first telecommunications service provider
attacks which are predicted to rise 600% according to Symantec.         in Hong Kong to provide enterprise customers with powerful,
The potential cost of cyberattacks is expected to reach USD6            integrated end-to-end security solutions across the entire attack
trillion, predicted by Juniper Networks.                                surface.
                                                                            HKT’s SECaaS solution has been designed to address the very
Security arms race                                                      specific security needs of modern dynamic businesses. These critical
    Accenture’s 2018 State of Cyber Resilience Study notes              requirements include: Round-the-clock 365 days a year protection;
that automated orchestration capabilities that use AI, big-data         simple and fast deployment; a monthly subscription model; and
analytics, and machine learning are enabling security teams to          finally, keeping you up-to-date without fear of whether patches
react and respond in nanoseconds and milliseconds, not minutes,         are up-to-date or if cybersecurity technology will be obsolete. The
hours or days. But at the same time there are already instances of      solution offers a complete suite of the following services:
threat actors and hackers using AI technologies
to bolster their attacks and malware, noted
Forrester Research in a new report titled “Using
AI for Evil: A Guide To How Cybercriminals
Will Weaponize And Exploit AI To Attack Your
Business.”
    Given    this   scenario,    companies     are
increasingly looking to more responsive solutions
and third-party managed platforms to bolster in-
house capabilities with rapid access to tools, data
and intelligence to combat emerging threats.
On-premise deployments are still the most
popular, but third party and managed security
is becoming the preferred delivery model for a
number of technologies,” said Sid Deshpande,
Principal Research Analyst at Gartner.

Locking down retail and finance                                         reduce and mitigate hacking risks associated with Internet trading,
    In terms of target verticals that are primed to benefit, they are   to improve cybersecurity resiliency & practice. Secure network
retail and finance industries. Retailers are fast in adopting IoT and   infrastructure through proper network segmentation with multi-
cloud technologies to better understand consumer behaviors and          tiered firewalls, to protect critical systems and client data against
optimize operations through collection and analysis of data. The        cyber-attacks. Security patches be evaluated on timely basis. To
processing of large amount of data creates the need for a strong        ensure this high level of security, HKT designs a multi-layer security
end-to-end security solution. The highly scalable model of HKT’s        infrastructure and preservation, as well as advanced malware
solution addresses retailers’ need for fast deployment with new         protection to safeguard information from any security risks.
store openings.                                                             In addition, HKT provides a Next Generation Security Operations
    Financial institutions hold some of the most important customer     Center (NGSOC) that supports Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) and
data and any vulnerability may lead to huge monetary or data loss.      Threat Management Services (TMS) to enable an even stronger
The Securities and Futures Commission had released Guidelines to        protection against cyber attacks.
The Year of the Boar Break on through to the other side - Hong Kong's source of IT insight www.cw.com.hk - Questex
NEWS
HONG KONG/CHINA                                 HONG KONG
Cisco names Herman Lam MD for                    Google smart city report: HK failing to
Hong Kong and Macau                              cultivate digital skills
Cisco has appointed Herman Lam as its
new managing director for Hong Kong and              Nine in 10 Hong Kong business leaders plan to increase their investments in
Macau. Lam is a 25 year veteran of the ICT       digital technology over the next two years, but 70% are struggling to find the right
industry, having previously served in roles      talent to help them achieve their digital ambitions.
including CEO of Cyberport and general               These are among the key findings of new research commissioned by Google Hong
manager of Microsoft Hong Kong.                  Kong and conducted by Ipsos. The second Smarter Digital City Whitepaper explored
                                                 Hong Kong’s progress in transforming into a smart city.
HKEX to introduce HK finance sectors                 The whitepaper considers Hong Kong’s approach to digitization and its credentials
first blockchain platform                        as a smart city, based on the opinions of consumers, SMEs, enterprises, policymakers
HKEX is set to work with distributed ledger      and nearby countries.
technology company Digital Asset Holdings            The report highlights a disparity between the digital progress of large and smaller
to introduce the first blockchain platform       companies, while 85% of enterprises have increased their digital investments this
in the financial services industry in Hong       year, only 34% of Hong Kong businesses have a web presence, and just half of SMEs
Kong. The stock exchange operator’s CEO          consider digital to be fundamental to their future.
Charles Li said the blockchain platform              Meanwhile, although they are generally satisfied with the available infrastructure,
will initially be used to support the Stock      residents do not yet consider Hong Kong to be a leading smart city, and both
Connect collaboration between the Hong           consumers and enterprises believe the city is facing major gaps in R&D, technology
Kong, Shanghai and Shenzhen stock                hubs, app development and tech talent.
exchanges.                                           Only 14% of Hong Kong residents think their city is successfully developing
                                                 digital talent, although 80% of residents would like to improve their digital skills.
CUHK launches degree in data                         The skills shortage is most acutely felt in areas including data analytics. Among
science and policy studies                       employers that believe data analytics skills are important to have from staff, 70%
The Chinese University of Hong Kong’s            believe it is difficult to find these skills while recruiting.
(CUHK) Faculty of Data Science has                   Fortunately analytics, along with machine learning and app development, are
launched a new undergraduate program in          among the top digital skills Hong Kong residents are interested in cultivating. 3
data science and policy studies. The new
program is designed to help fill the need
for people with the knowledge of both data
analytics and policy studies and the ability
to apply data science to make effective
decisions, the university said. The first year
of the program will be for the 2019-20
academic year, and will take a quota of up
to 20 undergraduate students.

OGCIO launched Cybersec Infohub
The Office of the Government Chief
Information Officer (OGCIO) launched in
September the Cybersec Infohub, the first
cross-sector cyber security information
sharing and collaborative platform in Hong
Kong. The two-year pilot partnership
program aims to promote cybersecurity
information exchange among public
                                                 (Left to right) Leonie Valentine, managing director for sales and operations at Google Hong
organizations, the private sector and the        Kong and Mick Gordon, managing director of Ipsos Hong Kong during the launch of the
community.                                       second Smarter Digital City Whitepaper

6 Computerworld Hong Kong December 2018                                                                                       www.cw.com.hk
The Year of the Boar Break on through to the other side - Hong Kong's source of IT insight www.cw.com.hk - Questex
GLOBAL

IBM to acquire Red Hat in US$34b blockbuster deal
    IBM will acquire open source               80% is about unlocking real
specialist Red Hat, in a blockbuster           business value and driving
US$34 billion deal designed to bolster the     growth.”
tech giant’s hybrid cloud capabilities.            “This is the next
    Terms of the deal will see Big Blue        chapter of the cloud. It
acquire all of the issued and outstanding      requires shifting business
common shares of Red Hat for US$190            applications to hybrid
per share in cash, in an agreement             cloud, extracting more data
expected to be finalized in the second half    and optimizing every part
of 2019.                                       of the business, from supply
    “The acquisition of Red Hat is a game-     chains to sales.”
changer,” said Ginni Rometty, CEO of               Rometty       said    the
IBM, during the deal’s announcement            acquisition brings together
in late October. “It changes everything        the “best-in-class” hybrid
                                                                             IBM says the Red Hat acquisition is a game-changer,
about the cloud market.”                       cloud providers, enabling changing everything about the cloud market.
    “IBM will become the world’s no.1          companies to securely move (Photo credit: Valerie Loiseleux/iStockPhoto)
hybrid cloud provider, offering companies      all business applications to
the only open cloud solution that will         the cloud in the process.                   to bring enterprise Kubernetes and hybrid
unlock the full value of the cloud for their       Following a 20-year partnership cloud solutions to customers.
businesses.”                                   across the industry, IBM served as an           According to Rometty, such
    “Most companies today are only             early supporter of Linux, collaborating innovations have become “core
20% along their cloud journey, renting         with Red Hat to help develop and grow technologies” within IBM’s US$19
compute power to cut costs. The next           enterprise-grade Linux and more recently billion hybrid cloud business.          3

                            Quotable Quote                                      Number Crunch

             No company can rely

                                                                                       9.4
solely on its founders … Because
of physical limits on one’s ability
and energy, no one can shoulder
the responsibilities of chairman and                                                                        million
CEO forever                                                                           The number of passengers whose
                                                                                        personal information have been
— Jack Ma, Alibaba co-founder                                                          compromised in a data breach at
                                                                                    Cathay Pacific disclosed last November
and executive chairman, during the
announcement of his retirement
set for September 2019

www.cw.com.hk                                                                                  Computerworld Hong Kong December 2018 7
The Year of the Boar Break on through to the other side - Hong Kong's source of IT insight www.cw.com.hk - Questex
Brought to you by CITIC TELECOM CPC

                                        Sustaining business transformation
                                        through partnership
                                        ASK ANY COMPANY, and they will say that they are in the midst
                                        of transforming the business. The reasons are clear: the need
                                        for business agility, industry disruption, customer calls for better
                                        experience and operational excellence are some of the top ones.
                                           However, as many will note, starting business transformation
                                        might be easier compared to sustaining one. It requires companies
                                        to rethink what are the chief ingredients that they need to drive
                                        the business transformation journey.
                                           “It requires companies to start going back to basics. Instead of
                                        trying to deploy the next best technology, it pays dividends to take
                                                                                                                                                 Daniel Kwong, chief technology
                                        a step back and ensure you have the right foundations to grow fast
                                                                                                                                                 and innovation officer,
                                        and be agile,” said Daniel Kwong, chief technology and innovation                                        CITIC Telecom CPC
                                        officer, CITIC Telecom CPC.

                                        Four pillars of strength
                                           CITIC Telecom CPC sees four essential ingredients for creating      themselves. New IT innovations, such as IoT analytics and artificial
                                        the right business transformation: network connectivity, cloud         intelligence, require clouds for ingesting and analyzing data
                                        computing, the data center, and information security.                  quickly,” said Kwong.
                                           “They are like air and water – all four are essentials for any         The future is going to be all cloud. New applications like smart
                                        business transformation effort,” said Kwong.                           manufacturing, smart cities, and autonomous vehicles rely on real-
                                           Network connectivity is not an option. In today’s interconnected    time access to compute resources near their operations — business
                                        business environment, no company is an island. They need to            who are not cloud-ready risk becoming marginalized.
                                        connect and disconnect with their evolving operations and partner         The next ingredient, the data center, is seeing a resurgence.
                                        network. A resilient and flexible network is crucial.                  It is no longer seen as just another data repository. Next-gen data
                                           But building such a network requires companies to shift             centers now sit at the core of business operations as access to
                                        their mindsets about network connectivity. They need to create         crucial data become indispensable for mission-critical applications
                                        one that has low latency connections, optimizes bandwidth,             to perform.
                                        works with different network protocols and has global reach.              Data centers are also continually evolving. They are no longer
                                        As companies need to explore new economies and geographies             monolithic, centralized facilities. Data sovereignty, data privacy,
                                        under initiatives like One Belt One Road and Greater Bay Area,         disaster recovery and having operational data close to the
                                        they need a network that works with different protocols. It is why     operations’ locations require a network of data centers. Such a
                                        SD-WAN is becoming vital.                                              setup allows companies to expand their operations fast, meet local
                                           Network connectivity also provides the foundation for the next      regulatory requirements and respond to locate market dynamics
                                        essential ingredient: cloud computing. Simply put, clouds are fast     appropriately.
                                        becoming the modern business platform. Scalability, rapid access          Lastly, companies need to rethink information security for
                                        to compute resources, the ability to streamline operational costs,     many reasons. First, the security perimeter is now blurred. With
                                        eliminating upfront capital expenditure and infrastructure agility     cloud computing, integration with partner and customers’
                                        without worrying about maintenance costs are some of the reasons       networks, and remote access to critical data becoming vital for
                                        why many are embracing cloud computing.                                productivity and automation, and the use of third-party suppliers
                                           “Clouds are business enablers. They allow companies to scale        to manage essential functions, like data analytics or email service
                                        fast using new services without having to deploy or manage             provision, has widened the threat surface. It also makes security

                                      8 Computerworld Hong Kong December 2018                                                                                          www.cw.com.hk
The Year of the Boar Break on through to the other side - Hong Kong's source of IT insight www.cw.com.hk - Questex
Clouds are business enablers. They allow companies to scale fast using new
       services without having to deploy or manage themselves
                                                                                     – Daniel Kwong, CITIC Telecom CPC

  policy enforcement extremely challenging.                                center solution.” It is built on a leading technology platform and
      Regulations and reputational risks are also rising. With many        the company’s carrier-grade network infrastructure, linking with
  legislations requiring the storage of customer data onshore and          more than 30 data centers worldwide. It is also not limited to
  fines becoming heftier, companies need to reinforce resilience           provide traditional facility management, hosting or colocation
  and reliability. And as security threats become more frequent and        services, but specifically designed to handle the demands of cloud
  sophisticated, they need to invest in incident responses, threat         infrastructure, private and hybrid cloud environments.
  intelligence, and countermeasures “because it is no longer ‘if’ but          TrustCSI offers managed security services, advanced threat
  ‘when’ a company will be attacked,” said Kwong.                          protection (ATP) and vulnerability management through its IAS
                                                                           solution that modern enterprises need. It also adds additional
  Right combination                                                        security capabilities through its network of security operations
      Addressing all these four factors is not easy. It requires           centers (SOCs) that monitors, examines and alerts threats on a 24/7
  experience, expertise, and significant investment. In a fast-paced       with access to global expertise and threat intelligence.
  market environment, this can be challenging for resource-strapped            CITIC Telecom CPC ties all these solutions with a single
  companies looking to compete on a daily basis.                           customer management portal called ManagedCONNECT – giving
      It can also be a distraction for senior managers looking to focus    customers the visibility they need to monitor and manage their
  on their business and an expensive investment for lean companies         entire infrastructure.
  who do not want to grow their own internal IT teams. More
  importantly, getting the right talents is a struggle, especially when    Future through partnership
  many of the tools require a high level of expertise and experience           The tough, complex and vastly competitive business landscape
  in interpreting the results.                                             requires companies to be focused on their value proposition. But
      It is why finding the right partner with the right solutions,        with much of the value built on IT, companies need to balance their
  experience and infrastructure is vital.                                  business and IT capabilities – a tough proposition in an environment
                                                                           where skilled IT talent is expensive and hard to find.
  Understanding the promise                                                    Companies also need to be flexible and adaptive to new
      CITIC Telecom CPC builds its entire value proposition on four        innovations,    while    protecting   themselves   against   evolving
  flagship solutions: TrueCONNECT, TrustCSI, SmartCLOUD, and               threats. It adds another dimension of business risk that can see
  DataHOUSE. These address the four essential ingredients that             traditional incumbents unseated by new startups armed with new
  modern enterprises need to drive business transformation.                technologies.
      With TrueCONNECT CITIC Telecom CPC offers a range of                     It is why finding the right ICT managed services partner is
  private network solutions, from hybrid and premium MPLS to               important.
  accelerators, traffic monitoring service (TMS) and remote services.          “You can’t do everything yourself, and you need a partner
  It also connects to a global network that is built for low latency and   whom you can grow with and can address all your ICT needs,” said
  redundant connectivity.                                                  Kwong.
      SmartCLOUD combines CITIC Telecom CPC’s cloud and                        With multiple certifications, including ISO9001, ISO14001,
  networking expertise. From compute power to business resilience          ISO20000, ISO27001 and ISO27017, the right team of globally-
  and desktop-as-a-service (DaaS), the company can help its                certified professionals, reliable facilities and offerings, and a bevy
  customers transition into digital natives company at their own           of awards and accreditations, CITIC Telecom CPC aims to be one.
  pace. It also offers various cloud value-added services and specific         “After all, when business cycles are unpredictable, you
  cloud connectivity solutions for those looking to expand their           need a partner who understands your priorities and can deliver
  operations.                                                              technology solutions aligned to market conditions. That is what we
      CITIC Telecom CPC’s DataHOUSE is an “unconventional data             are constantly striving to become,” said Kwong.

www.cw.com.hk                                                                                            Computerworld Hong Kong December 2018 9
The Year of the Boar Break on through to the other side - Hong Kong's source of IT insight www.cw.com.hk - Questex
REVIEW2018

  2018: inno-tech made
  great strides in Hong Kong
  Computerworld HK selects the top 10 stories in
  2018 that gained top mindshare in the local and
  global IT markets

  By Computerworld Hong Kong editors

  HKSAR Govt steps up                           on AI and robotics technologies; and         made a big push for re-industrialization
  inno-tech support                             the promotion of eSports. Dedicated          of Hong Kong’s manufacturing sector
      Support for Hong Kong’s innovation        funding is allocated to Cyberport, Hong      through the help of I&T.
  and technology (I&T) development got a        Kong Science and Technology Park, and
  big boost this year. The 2018-2019 Hong       the Innovation and Technology Fund to
  Kong Budget allocated HK$50 billion           support their further development.
  on I&T investment, which is four times           In the Policy Address of Chief
  the investment in the 2017 Budget. The        Executive Carrie Lam, the government
  I&T budget is allotted to developing          renewed its commitment to the growth
  innovation in the areas of biotechnology,     of the I&T sector with a key focus on
  AI, and fintech.                              local research and development (R&D).
      New initiatives in the Budget include     Additional funding is injected into
  the setup of Technology Talent Scheme; the    university research. Tax reductions for
  establishment of two technology research      R&D expenditure will be available to
  clusters on healthcare technologies, and      local enterprises. The Policy Address also

  Massive data breaches                         involving some of its IT systems.            shared the personal data of some of its
      Large-scale data breach incidents             Hong Kong Broadband Network              users with Cambridge Analytica. The UK
  happened in Hong Kong and worldwide           (HKBN) reported a cyberattack on an          data analytics firm used the data to conduct
  in 2018.                                      inactive customer database containing the    targeted marketing for political campaigns.
      In Hong Kong, the biggest incident        information of some 380,000 customer         Backup and disaster recovery vendor
  came from Cathay Pacific, The personal        and service applicant records of its fixed   Veeam exposed millions of customer
  information of up to 9.4 million passengers   line and IDD services.                       records on an open server from AWS due
  was compromised due to a data breach              Earlier this year, Facebook improperly   to a human error.
                                                                                                 Data breaches could incur both
                                                                                             economic and reputation losses to
                                                                                             enterprises. To promote cyber security
                                                                                             information exchange among public,
                                                                                             private sectors and the community,
                                                                                             the Office of the Government Chief
                                                                                             Information Officer debuted cross-sector
                                                                                             collaborative platform Cybersec Infohub.
                                                                                             All the companies in Hong Kong are
                                                                                             eligible to become members for free.

  10 Computerworld Hong Kong December 2018                                                                                 www.cw.com.hk
Brought to you by HKT
Unraveling the complexity
when managing multi-clouds
Multi-clouds are about to become the new IT normal.

GARTNER’S THE FUTURE OF THE DATA CENTER IN THE CLOUD ERA                  highly reliable connectivity. It needs to be resilient in design and
PREDICTS THAT 70% OF ENTERPRISES WILL HAVE A MULTI-CLOUD                  able to enforce data security and privacy policies that the business
STRATEGY BY 2019, and cites various drivers for it.                       demands.
    First, multi-clouds allow companies to tackle increasingly                The Extended Cloud is for purpose-driven, dynamic workloads,
complex data sovereignty issues by choosing the right onshore cloud       or innovative projects such as AI or machine learning. The goal is
provider as well as geographical and latency concerns. The push for       to reduce time-to-market and impact on business applications in
operational excellence and better customer engagement also sees           the Edge and Core Clouds. It needs to be agile and scalable while
many global companies use different clouds.                               allowing a company to leverage the strength of multiple public
    Digital transformation is another driver. Many companies are          cloud services without compromising their data security and privacy
embracing different clouds for their diverse workloads. For CIOs,         policies.
multi-clouds ensure that their companies avoid becoming locked to             HKT does not stop there. It includes a multi-cloud connect
one provider.                                                             platform that simplifies how you connect with today’s leading cloud
    Lastly, clouds offer a platform that fuel innovations. For example,   platforms. It adds multi-cloud monitoring and multi-cloud security
Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) applications    that allow companies to take control of their infrastructure, creating
often require the latest technology provided by public cloud services.    an integrated architecture for a unified experience.

Taming complexity                                                         Partnership matters
    But not all clouds are made the same way. Optimizing, migrating           Multi-cloud management requires a different set of skills, tools,
and managing workloads across multiple cloud platforms add layers         and investment. But CIOs do not have to do it alone.
of complexity. It requires migration specialists and specific cloud           A reliable partner with the right expertise and services can help
platform experts that are becoming difficult to find. It also distracts   companies to create their multi-cloud journey. They can also share
companies from their digital transformation journey and focus on          valuable experience and best practices from managing multi-clouds
their core business.                                                      for other companies and industries.
    HKT,   Hong    Kong’s    premier    telecommunications     service        They can help to overcome bottlenecks and issues that CIOs will
provider believes that every multi-cloud journey should begin with        face during your Multi-cloud journey. It allows them to focus on
a distributed cloud center. It sees it as a unified cloud platform        growing their business and not be bogged down managing their
with three: Edge, Core, and Extended Clouds. Such a multi-cloud           multi-cloud infrastructure.
architecture within the data center allows companies to allocate              A partner like HKT can help create and navigate such a future.
workloads more efficiently. It also lays the foundation for a multi-
cloud future.

Rethinking the data center
    The Edge Cloud is designed to bring latency and time-sensitive
application workloads closer to the business operations. It removes
the time and distance needed to send data for processing to the
remote cloud or centralized processing systems.
    The development of the Edge Cloud allows data processing and
analysis to occur in real time – an essential requirement in Internet-
of-Things (IoT) applications HKT believes such a cloud should be
connectivity driven, performance sensitive and locally survivable.
    The Core Cloud takes on the heavy processing and storage that
today’s business-critical applications require. HKT sees such a cloud
storing confidential data and sees it as a secured platform with
REVIEW2018

  A new era of data protection                   within the region. The Office of the          accountability principle and the related
      The enactment of the European              Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data        privacy management tools are currently
  Union (EU)’s General Data Protection           (PCPD) in Hong Kong published a guide         not explicitly provided under the PDPO.
  Regulation (GDPR) in May has marked            on how local businesses comply with the       In the event of data breaches, Hong Kong
  a new era of global data protection. It sets   GDPR.                                         has no mandatory breach notification
  out new provisions and enhanced rights             The introduction of the GDPR has          requirement. The provision of such
  governing the collection, use, disclosure,     raised a concern on whether Hong Kong’s       notifications is voluntary.
  and handling of personal data of EU            own Personal Data Privacy Ordinance
  citizens. Companies that are not GDPR-         (PDPO), which has been in force for over
  compliant could face heavy fines.              10 years, needs to be updated.
      Although GDPR is an EU law, it                 As stated in the PCPD’s GDPR
  applies to any Hong Kong companies             guide, some regulatory measures are
  which have establishments in the EU or         not provided under the PDPO. For
  offer goods and services to individuals        example, on the accountability front, the

  A new paradigm of fintech                          The Faster Payment System (FPS) was       email addresses.
      While banks are taking the fintech         activated in September. Participating banks       Blockchain-based        trade     finance
  route, Hong Kong is moving towards a           and stored value facility (SVF) operators     platform eTradeConnect was launched in
  smart banking era with the introduction of     enable their customers to make and receive    October. Developed by a consortium of 12
  a series of fintech initiatives by the Hong    real-time payments across different banks     major banks in Hong Kong, the platform
  Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) in              or SVFs with the use of mobile numbers or     aims to improve trade efficiency, build
  2018.                                                                                        better trust among trade participants, reduce
      The HKMA introduced the Open                                                             risks and facilitate trade counterparties to
  Application Programming Interface (API)                                                      obtain financing by leveraging blockchain
  framework for the Hong Kong banking                                                          technology.
  sector in July. The framework covers Open                                                        On the virtual banking front, over 50
  API functions and deployment timeframe,                                                      companies sent enquiries and indications
  technical standards on architecture,                                                         of interests to the HKMA. The HKMA
  security and data, and third-party service                                                   is expected to start granting virtual bank
  providers’ governance model.                                                                 licenses by the first quarter of 2019.

  Mobile payments                                2018. More users settle their payments        Pay HK offer mobile payment services to
  gain traction                                  with their mobile devices. An array of        taxi drivers and passengers. Apart from
     Hong Kong has made steady                   mobile payment services is available for      taxi drivers, AliPay HK also partnered
  growth towards mobile payments in              merchants and consumers.                      with two minibus companies to allow
                                                     Surveys done by Visa and Mastercard       passengers to use their mobile devices
                                                 in 2018 showed that Hong Kong users           to pay for minibus fares. Mastercard
                                                 have used or are willing to use contactless   collaborated with taxi hiring app HKTaxi
                                                 payments such as digital wallets, peer-       to enable Mastercard cardholders to do
                                                 to-peer mobile payments, and QR code          in-app payments.
                                                 payments.                                         Mobile payment can also be used to
                                                     Mobile wallet providers, contactless      pay bills or make P2P payments. WeChat
                                                 stored value card operators, and global       Pay HK partnered with HGC Global
                                                 payments companies collaborated with          Communications to allow customers to
                                                 local merchants and service providers to      pay bills and purchase Wi-Fi pass over
                                                 integrate mobile payments into the daily      WeChat Pay HK. PayPal Hong Kong
                                                 lives of Hong Kong people.                    provides a real-time top-up service
                                                     In the transportation sector, AliPay      for Octopus Cards users to make P2P
                                                 HK, Octopus Cards Ltd, and WeChat             payments.

  12 Computerworld Hong Kong December 2018                                                                                    www.cw.com.hk
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IT IS LIKELY A DAILY, or even hourly, routine that the IT department     troubleshooting and maintenance. The built-in InfoSight predictive
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loopholes. “Since we are always on the watch, we get to the issue        support center, offering 24x7, multilingual hotline support and
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them proactively.”                                                           JOS holds different international standards and technology
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Addressing the issue, not the symptom,                                   a demonstration of its capabilities and commitment. With a strong
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    Technical experts at JOS begin with a thorough audit of the          the team is able to manage a variety of IT
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    HPE   Nimble     Storage   is   a   system   designed   for   easy
REVIEW2018

  Readiness for open API                         Kong, EGL Tours, Fortress, HKTVmall,           The portal currently contains datasets
      Open API is taking a wider industry        Octopus Cards, Visa, Watsons, and Zurich       in various data categories provided by
  adoption in Hong Kong. Organizations           Hong Kong. They use Citi’s open API            organizations from the public and private
  across different industries have made          technology in different categories such        sectors.
  progress in opening up their APIs.             as cards, customers, money
      According to a study from IDC              movement, and onboarding.
  Financial Insights in 2018, Hong Kong          Other banks such as DBS
  is the third top market in Asia Pacific in     Hong Kong, HSBC, and
  terms of open banking readiness, below         Standard Chartered have
  Singapore and Australia in the regional        also developed their API
  rankings.                                      capabilities.
      Major banks have already opened                All the government
  APIs for speeding up the creation and          departments are required to
  delivery of innovative services. Citi forged   progressively open up their
  open API partnerships with a number of         data for free use by the public
  companies in 2018 including AIA Hong           under data.gov.hk portal.

  AI takes shape                                 AI applications, services, and projects            Unmanned stores were debuted in
     Artificial intelligence (AI) made           growing across different vertical industries   Hong Kong. PCCW Solutions opened an
  a splash in Hong Kong in 2018, with            such as financial, healthcare, hospitality,    intelligent unmanned store Habbitzz+,
                                                              manufacturing, and retail.        which blends online shopping with
                                                                   In the 2018 Policy           touch-and-feel experience at the physical
                                                              Address, the Chief                store. HKSTP and partner company RV
                                                              Executive stated that the         Automation Technology Company Ltd
                                                              funding of HK$10 billion          jointly launched a smart warehouse the
                                                              has been approved for             RobEx Centre to offer express courier
                                                              establishing two I&T              and self-serviced storage.
                                                              clusters. One of them                 Educational institutions and
                                                              is on AI and robotics             technology providers have ramped up
                                                              technologies. In addition,        their AI initiatives. PolyU and Alibaba
                                                              AI and chatbot functions          Cloud signed an agreement to strengthen
                                                              will be introduced to the         their cooperation in AI research. To
                                                              GovHK portal in 2019 to           nurture AI talent, the Chinese University
                                                              facilitate searching and          of Hong Kong will launch an engineering
                                                              access of e-Government            program in AI in the academic year
                                                              services by the public.           2019-20.

  Acquisitions &                                 company to offer cloud, managed, and           WTT Holding through an all-stock deal
  mergers continue                               data services. The new company is likely       valuing WTT Holding at HK$10.5 billion.
      The biggest tech acquisition               the largest IT firm in Japan.                  Such deal is expected to enhance HKBN’s
  worldwide in 2018 was the acquisition              Earlier in 2018, homegrown                 service capabilities in the enterprise
  of Red Hat by IBM at US$34 billion. It         broadband service provider HKBN                segment.
  was also the third largest acquisition in      acquired two companies in Hong Kong.
  American tech history. Tech analysts           The first acquisition was the cloud-
  believe the acquisition could reshape the      based MSP I Consulting Group (ICG)
  open source and cloud platforms market.        at HK$200 million, aiming to form a
      In Japan, NTT merged its subsidiaries      cloud system integration powerhouse.
  Dimension Data, NTT Communications,            The second one was about WTT Holding.
  and NTT Data into a new IT services            HKBN announced plans to merge with

  14 Computerworld Hong Kong December 2018                                                                                  www.cw.com.hk
Senior IT management                              Peter Yan, the former executive        of executive vice chairman. Taking over
reshuffle                                     director and CEO of SUNeVision             his CEO role is NiQ Lai, the former COO
    Musical chairs were playing among         Holdings, joined Cyberport as the CEO.     and executive director of the company.
some IT leaders in Hong Kong in 2018.         The former Cyberport CEO, Herman               Fujitsu Hong Kong promoted Leo Ng
    Sunny Chai took over Fanny Law’s          Lam, moved to Cisco as the managing        as its new CEO. Ng has been promoted
role as the new chairman of the board of      director for Hong Kong and Macau. Cisco    from the post of general manager for
directors at HKSTP. Law served as the         also announced the retirement of Barbara   sales, marketing, and solutions. Sophos
chairperson for four years. HKSTP also        Chiu, vice president for Hong Kong,        appointed Keith Poon as the managing
appointed Chan Chi-ming as the new CEO        Macau, and Taiwan.                         director for Greater China, based out of
of the subsidiary Hong Kong-Shenzhen              William Yeung stepped down as the      Hong Kong.
Innovation and Technology Park Ltd.           CEO at HKBN but has assumed the role

HKSTP Chairman of the Board of Directors,     Cyberport CEO, Peter Yan                   Cisco Managing Director for HK and Macau,
Sunny Chai                                                                               Herman Lam

From left to right: HKBN Executive Vice Chairman William Yeung and HKBN CEO NiQ Lai      Fujitsu Hong Kong CEO, Leo Ng

Innovation labs, co-work-                     and knowledge transfer on customer         and fintech companies to create digital
ing spaces gain popularity                    and market needs in areas including        banking products.                  3
    The support for technology startups       AI, big data, smart living, smart
has been stepped up with the opening of       health, fintech, property technology,
more co-working spaces and innovation         and      construction     technology.
labs in Hong Kong.                            HKSTP also joined hands with
    Cyberport opened its first off-           Alibaba Group and SenseTime to
campus co-working space Smart-Space           establish the Hong Kong AI & Data
8 to provide incubation support to young      Laboratory to incubate AI startups.
entrepreneurs in fields such as fintech,          HKT and ASTRI established
big data, app development, e-commerce,        Smart City Joint Laboratory aimed
health-tech, and wearable technology.         at developing advanced smart
    HKSTP and Wheelock Properties             city solutions. Standard Chartered
jointly opened HKSTP @Wheelock                opened its innovation lab, the
Gallery outside of the Science Park. It       eXellerator, to provide a co-creation
aims to promote an exchange of ideas          space for the bank’s staff, customers,

www.cw.com.hk                                                                               Computerworld Hong Kong December 2018 15
FORECAST2019

  What can techies expect
  in the Year of the Boar?
  AI & blockchain: good or evil? We ask the experts

  By Computerworld Hong Kong staff

  I
     n keeping with our annual tradition,       Congress emphasized promised
     we once again present the views of         speed but failed to showcase the
     industry experts on what was great and     promised magic of the technology,”
  what was hyped (or overhyped) in 2018.        says Kristie Lu Stout, anchor/
  Our contributors also gave their insight on   correspondent, CNN International.
  what technology will blossom in 2019.         “Yes, it’s a work in progress. Yes,
     As ever, this is a “straw poll” of         we won’t see 5G properly roll out
  people’s opinions. What did we find?          until a few years from now. But the
  Here’s a snapshot of opinions from Hong       industry needs to be careful not to
  Kong 2018.                                    oversell its potential.
  Tech we weren’t thrilled                          “5G isn’t going to be just about
  with in 2018:                                 speed, but about life-changing
      “It’s hard to get excited about 5G when   services,” says Lu Stout. “I look
  the demos I saw at the 2018 Mobile World      forward seeing that demo.”
                                                                 “Blockchain and
                                                             the decentralized ledger
                                                             system have yet to deliver
                                                             the vast breakthrough
                                                             that is promised by
                                                             its advocates,” says Mok: It will take time for blockchain to gain traction
                                                             Charles Mok, Hong beyond cryptocurrency
                                                             Kong’s Legislative
                                                             Councillor for Information to gain traction beyond cryptocurrency and
                                                             Technology. “Though we see go mainstream.”
                                                             more experimentation around           “The most famous use of blockchain
                                                             the DLT in different scenarios, technology is cryptocurrencies like
                                                             especially in the financial bitcoin, which is a digital record of
                                                             services sector, the long term transactions that cannot be altered,”
                                                             viability and ROI of adopting says Winnie Tang, honorary professor
                                                             blockchain faces a reality at the Department of Computer Science,
                                                             check.”                           University of Hong Kong and founder of
                                                                 “For enterprises to integrate the Smart City Consortium. “It is said to
                                                             blockchain technologies into have the huge potential to disrupt financial
                                                             their workflow,” says Mok, services as well as other industries—
                                                             “figuring out interoperability, but the problem is that there is no killer
                                                             standardization and risk application that only blockchain can
                                                             management on blockchain- accomplish in the real world.”
                                                             based platforms will be crucial.      Tang says that, according to Gartner’s
  CNN’s Lu Stout: 5G is a work in progress                   It will take time for blockchain 2018 CIO Survey, “only one percent

  16 Computerworld Hong Kong December 2018                                                                                 www.cw.com.hk
of CIOs confirmed having adopted             develop a blockchain incubator
blockchain technology within their           and accelerator.”
organizations, and only eight percent
of CIOs were planning or actively            Intelligence...
experimenting with blockchain in the         the artificial kind
near future.”                                    “While the promise of AI
    However, blockchain technology           (Artificial Intelligence) is exciting,”
gained traction in Hong Kong this year.      says Darrell Ryman, CTO, AXA
“Cyberport witnessed the development of      Hong Kong, “most [firms] struggle
blockchain in our community,” says Peter     to understand the data within their
Yan, CEO, Cyberport. “The blockchain         organization and its quality, which
ecosystem is growing fast, [like] our        poses a problem in deriving real
digital technology enterprises.”             value from technologies like AI
    Yan cited Cyberport-based examples       and Big Data.”
of blockchain progress: financial services       However, Ted Suen, president
provider Standard Kepler, “a incubatee       of the Hong Kong Computer
[which] has raised over US$480M to           Society, finds AI intriguing.
date,” and Hash Key, which “will leverage    “The world was shocked by the
the innovative ecosystem of Cyberport to     fast development of AI with Go
                                                      champions beaten by Cyberport’s Yan: The blockchain ecosystem
                                                      the computer program is growing fast
                                                      AlphaGo,” he says.
                                                          “AI/Big Data is one of the key chatbots being widely used in call
                                                      technology clusters of Cyberport centers, video analytics to determine
                                                      [and] is [also] the mainstream of certain scenarios for follow-up actions
                                                      digital technology development,” or decision-making, robotics applications
                                                      says Yan from Cyberport.” People for re-industrialization, etc. The HK
                                                      now have AI assistants embedded government is implementing AI solutions
                                                      in their computer systems, for businesses, including: estimating
                                                      platforms and software.”           journey times, video analytics for
                                                                                         deterring illegal parking, and chatbots for
                                                      Tech that excited us               1823 and GovHK.
                                                      in 2018:                              “Recognizing AI as one of Hong Kong’s
                                                          “AI,” says Government CIO strengths, the Hong Kong government and
                                                      Victor Lam. “With the maturity local organizations are deeply invested into
                                                      of big data analytics and machine AI,” says Bong Chan, Southern Region
                                                      learning, AI has become a TMT managing partner for Deloitte China.
                                                      mainstream technology providing “The Innovation and Technology Fund
Tang: No killer app for blockchain                    many useful applications, e.g. (ITF) has funded 57 projects involving

www.cw.com.hk                                                                                Computerworld Hong Kong December 2018 17
FORECAST2019

                                                      startups have been established here     chatbots is also expected to improve with
                                                      as of September 2018, compared          voice gradually replacing text input.”
                                                      with 2,200—from a 2017                      “Data is the “new oil” to drive new
                                                      InvestHK survey. The total funds        economic development and emerging
                                                      raised increased from $450 million      technologies like big data analysis and
                                                      last year to at least $1.9 billion in   AI,” says Winnie Tang.
                                                      the first nine months of 2018.”             “A centralized real-time geographic
                                                                                              information system (GIS) platform like
                                                      Tech predicted to thrill                Common Operational Picture (COP)
                                                      in 2019:                                should be implemented to coordinate
                                                          “Fake news. Cyberbullying.          recovery efforts,” she says. “COP can
                                                     Stealth influence campaigns. In          serve as a platform for command and
                                                     2018, big tech firms may have            coordination, allowing commanders
                                                     issued their mea culpas for these        to keep abreast on the latest and
                                                     ills, but 2019 will be a year of         comprehensive field situation, issue
                                                     action, says CNN’s Lu Stout.             orders and allocate resources in disaster
                                                     “Facebook, Google, Twitter               relief operations.”                   3
                                                     and others must provide more
  Ted Suen from the HKCS: AlphaGo shows what AI      meaningful safeguards to improve
  can do                                             security, ensure privacy and earn
                                                     back trust. They also must act fast
  AI and robotics over the past three years. before increasingly tech-savvy regulators
  In the Smart City Blueprint published at dictate the terms.”
  the end of 2017, the government stated         “With the GDPR, companies are
  its commitment to build infrastructure forced to improve compliance with the
  that allows for more application of AI in new requirements,” says Charles Mok.
  both the public and private sectors, from “The new regulatory regime holding
  transport to cyber security.”               companies accountable for how they
      “Integrating data into business treat data is showing effects globally.
  analytics is one of the major trends that Defense against cybersecurity threats and
  enterprises are investing heavily in,” protection of personal data will emerge
  says Charles Mok. “Companies sitting as important themes for enterprises
  on massive troves of data are leveraging seeking to prevent becoming victims of
  increased processing power to prepare, ransomware and other cyberattacks.”
  analyze, and extract insight.”                 “With the improvement of Natural
      “The most exciting technology scene Language Processing and AI algorithms, I
  in Hong Kong this year is the number think conversational interface technology
  of startups,” says Winnie Tang. “Startup will be getting more attention in 2019,”           OGCIO’s Lam: AI has become a mainstream
  community Whub estimates that 2,800 says Victor Lam. “The user experience for               technology

  18 Computerworld Hong Kong December 2018                                                                                www.cw.com.hk
Fintech Innovation is the dedicated media for Banking,
Finance, Insurance organisations that show how FSOs
leverage technology to gain competitive edge and optimize
business performance. The Finance Innovation Forum
takes place in Singapore and Hong Kong annually.

ONLINE PORTAL +
WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

www.enterpriseinnovation.net/fintech
Technology
Trendlines 2019
Break on through to the other side

C        omputerworld Hong Kong has
         been published continuously
         since 1984. According to the
calendar, that’s about 35 years. But by
the Technology Publishing Calendar, it’s
                                            required specialized tools and skills.
                                            There’s a reason we still call media “the
                                            press.”
                                              And we learned the new tools. To me,
                                            email is still the killer app: personally and
                                                                                            Cyber-physical convergence expands
                                                                                            enterprises’ attack surface        21
                                                                                            Multi-cloud environments will dominate
more like 127.5 years.                      professionally. But media increasingly          in the enterprise                    27
   Looking at copies of CWHK from the       shifts to the short-attention-span
                                                                                            Data security in the era of new
mid-80s, vendors like Wang, Burroughs       maelstrom where the Twitterati dwell.
and Sperry-Univac dominate. Models            When I look into my crystal ball, I           cybersecurity laws                      33
with big hair brandish five-inch floppy     see a future of splintered technologies
                                                                                            Hybrid cloud and its benefits to
disks: the latest in storage technology.    competing           and        coalescing—a
It was a different world.                   technodrome of ambition, failures,              Hong Kong enterprises                   39
   Nowadays, many of us never leave         and successes. Tech is now part
home without a Net-connected mobile         of mainstream business. And that,
                                                                                            Smart cities rely on the IoT             45
phone (or two). We have 500GB SSDs          ultimately, is a good thing.
                                                                                            AI and machine learning revolutionize
so small they fit in a shirt pocket.          Our Technology Trendlines 2019 issue
Our personal tech setups were               presents the top 10 technology trends           modern businesses                     51
unimaginable a few decades ago, yet         to watch in Hong Kong and global
                                                                                            5G disruption                           55
for younger users, it’s normal because      enterprise IT space.
it’s always been that way. In Hong            All the best in the Year of the Boar!3       Getting real with digital integration
Kong, the “digital divide” is more like a
generation gap.
                                                                                            challenges and opportunities          59
   People of my generation experienced                                                      Intelligent apps and analytics transform
both sides of the equation. We
remember when most communication                                                            the workplace                          63
was via landlines or face-to-face. We                               Stefan Hammond          Blockchain goes beyond cryptocurrency
learned handwriting (remember that?).                                  Editor-in-Chief
Producing and distributing content                           Computerworld Hong Kong
                                                                                                                                67

20 Computerworld Hong Kong December 2018                                                                                   www.cw.com.hk
CYBER-PHYSICAL CONVERGENCE EXPANDS ENTERPRISES’ ATTACK SURFACE

            AUTOMATION TO TAKE CENTER STAGE
                IN APPLICATION SECURITY
                Cybersecurity pros will take a leaf out of the hackers’ playbook by using
                                automated tools to fix application flaws

                                                         By Gigi Onag

A
          pplications today are critical      infiltrate corporate networks. According     Hong Kong lags in strengthen-
          touchpoints to an organization’s    to the Forrester Data Global Business        ing application security
          products and services, but they     Technographics Security Survey 2017,             In Hong Kong roughly during the
are also the weakest link when it comes       41% of external attacks were carried out     same time period, the city saw malicious
to cyberattacks.                              by exploiting software vulnerabilities and   attackers zeroing in on applications as
    From 2017, technology analysts have       38% were done through SQL injection,         easy gateways to steal their users’ data. In
been putting applications at the top of the   cross-site scripting and remote file         late 2016, a stock trading security incident
target list of hackers who are trying to      inclusions of web applications.              involving a mobile app caused an investor

www.cw.com.hk                                                                                 Computerworld Hong Kong December 2018 21
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