Survey shows IT security breaches rise in China's HK, mainland

A survey conducted by accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has found a five-fold increase in information security breaches detected in companies across China's Hong Kong and mainland this year when compared to last year, local media reported on Friday.

Among the 330 or more companies surveyed, 1,245 such incidents were reported, up from 241 last year. The increase in thefts of internal records, strategic business plans and financial data were worse than any other kind of data loss such as leaks of customer records, the survey found.

The companies said current or former employees were responsible for about half of the leaks.

Kenneth Wong, leader of PwC's cyber security branch in the mainland and Hong Kong, said that was because many companies treat data breaches as merely an information technology issue.