14 DAY TRIAL // After NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed that the US had launched cyber espionage operations against Chinese universities, the Chinese University of Hong Kong has started alerting students and staff, advising them to secure their computers against hackers.
According to the South China Morning Post, 7,500 staff members and 14,800 students received the notifications sent out over the weekend.
The alerts contain a set of instructions on what to do and what not to do to make sure personal data is properly protected.
“Everyone in Hong Kong, not just the community in Chinese University, is more concerned about data security with the current Snowden incident. Everyone taking an extra small step will make hacking much more difficult,” the alert reads.
The Chinese University of Hong Kong has been named by Snowden as being one of the universities targeted by the US National Security Agency.
Representatives of the Hong Kong University say that they send out such warnings regularly.
In the meantime, Chinese officials say they haven’t received a response from the US regarding the things that Snowden has told the Chinese media.