HK joins international community to fight spam

Hong Kong has joined the international community to enhance cooperation and exchange of information to fight the problem of spam.

The Commerce, Industry and Technology Bureau of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region today (April 27) joined 11 agencies in the Asia-Pacific region to become the founding signatories of the Seoul-Melbourne Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Co-operation in Countering Spam.

The purpose of the memorandum is to encourage closer cooperation among the signatories in minimising spam originating in or passing through each country/region, and being sent to end-users in the countries/regions.

The signatories will also encourage the exchange of information on technical, educational and policy solutions to the spam problem in accordance with the relevant laws and regulations of each country/region and on the basis of equality, reciprocity and mutual benefit.

Welcoming the signing of the MoU, the Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology, Mr John Tsang, said that international cooperation was important in helping to contain the problem of spam in Hong Kong.

"Studies show that spam has accounted for over 60% of emails in Hong Kong. Among them, only 5% originate from local sources, with the other 95% from other overseas countries like the United States and South Korea.

"The MoU will facilitate the signatories to share knowledge, information and intelligence about known sources of spam, network vulnerabilities, methods of spam propagation, and technical, educational and policy solutions to the spam problem.It will also focus on putting anti-spam solutions and strategies into action.

"This MoU will facilitate cooperation among Asia-Pacific signatories on many fronts in tackling the spam problem. We will continue to develop international partnerships and play a leading role in the fight against spam," Mr Tsang said.

Under the MoU, cooperation among the signatories in the field of countering spam will focus on the following areas:

• establishment of channels for exchange of information on spam, anti-spam measures and emerging issues;
  
• exchange of delegations and visits; and
  
• encouragement of liaison between industry and Government organisations to promote areas of interest and cooperation.

The 12 founding signatories of the MoU are:

• Australian Communications Authority;
  
• Commerce, Industry and Technology Bureau, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region;
  
• Internet Society of China;
  
• Korea Information Security Agency;
  
• Philippines Commission on Information and Communications Technology;
  
• Philippines Computer Emergency Response Team;
  
• Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission;
  
• Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Japan;
  
• Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Japan;
  
• Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, Kingdom of Thailand;
  
• New Zealand Ministry of Economic Development; and
  
• TWCERT/CC

Ends/Wednesday, April 27, 2005