Conference Presents Anti-spam Strategies and Solutions

To assist local companies and the general public to fight spam, the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) and the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO), HKSAR Government, today (10 March 2006) jointly organized the Anti-Spam Conference at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.

More than 450 participants attended the event to obtain the latest information for tackling spamming. Information security experts from both the public and private sectors presented the technologies and tools to safeguard message hygiene, anti-spamming strategies and best practices, legitimate approaches to e-marketing, as well as shared their experience in the deployment of anti-spam solutions.

Speaking at the opening, Mr Edmund Sung, Director (Business Productivity) of HKPC, said, "Spamming has affected all walks of life. It was estimated that more than 4 billion spam messages are circulated among companies in the world every day. According to a survey conducted by a local industry association, spam accounted for 60% of all e-mails."

"To businesses, spam has become a major issue in the daily agenda of their information technology teams, costing them tremendous resources in infrastructure upgrading to contain the problem. To the employees, the time spent on message scanning has significantly reduced their productivity. To the individuals, spam may facilitate the spread of virus and make use of spyware for unauthorized access into their personal data," said Mr Sung.

"But most important of all, spam has undermined the effectiveness of e-mail communications, dampening the adoption of e-commerce. A survey found that at least 10% of consumers in the USA have suffered financial losses caused by frauds related to spam e-mails. These victims have reduced their Internet usage thereafter," Mr Sung said.

"Last year the HKSAR Government has launched the 'STEPS' campaign - through strengthening existing regulatory measures, offering technical solutions, education, and partnership with industry to fight against spam. In support of the Government's initiatives, on the technology front, the Hong Kong Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Centre (HKCERT), managed by HKPC, is closely monitoring new vulnerabilities on the Internet systems and provides timely measures through various channels to safeguard the information security of business and individual users. In addition, HKCERT will directly contact victimized users of computer systems or server owners, providing them with recommendation for enhanced security," Mr Sung added.

"We also promote public awareness of anti-spam. This Conference provides an ideal platform where information security experts can share their anti-spam knowledge and experience with local enterprises and the general public, and explore legitimate e-marketing practices," Mr Sung said.

Other speakers of the Conference included Ms Donna Chan, Chief Systems Manager (Infrastructure & Security) of OGCIO, Mr Edward Tam, Principal Consultant (Information Technology Industry Development) of HKPC, representatives from the Professional Information Security Association and Hong Kong Internet Service Providers Association, and anti-spam solutions providers from Microsoft, IronPort System, Computer Associate, Symantec, McAfee, Trend Micro, Edvance and Mail Prove.

For further information on the Anti-spam Conference, please contact Ms Jennifer Ng of HKPC at tel. (852) 2788 5851 or e-mail: securitytraining@hkpc.org.


For media enquiries, please contact:
Ms Betty Lee
General Manager
Corporate Communications & Events
Tel: (852) 2788 5895
Fax: (852) 2788 5056
E-mail: justina@hkpc.org
Website: www.hkpc.org

10 March 2006