Hong Kong Ransomware Cases Rise Nearly 18% as Police Blame AI-Aided Attacks

Hong Kong police said on November 9 that ransomware cases rose 17.6% year on year to 40 in the first three quarters of 2026, while overall technology crime fell 11.5% to 21,573 cases, with losses of about HK$3.9 billion, down 15.1%. Police said criminals are increasingly using artificial intelligence to carry out attacks, including cases recorded as recently as last month in which AI agents were involved. (Image: file photo of Hong Kong Police Headquarters; image source: South China Morning Post.)

AI agents do the scouting and phishing; attack costs plunge

Chief Superintendent Raymond Lam Cheuk-ho of the Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau said criminals use generative AI to draft convincing phishing messages, write malicious code and design extortion schemes more quickly than before; agentic AI can carry out tasks with minimal human supervision, helping complete attack chains and raising the speed, scale and effectiveness of attacks while sharply cutting their cost. Police said criminals scale up AI-powered reconnaissance and phishing before launching ransomware attacks.

Overall tech crime falls; hacking cases down more than a fifth

Despite the rise in ransomware, overall technology crime totalled 21,573 cases in the first nine months, down 11.5% year on year; losses fell 15.1% from HK$4.59 billion a year earlier to about HK$3.9 billion. Hacking cases fell 21.6% to 29.

Police fight back with AI and join Interpol operation

To counter AI-driven attacks, Hong Kong police have developed an AI analysis system called Rapid that examines website source code, domains and technical indicators to flag suspected fraudulent sites, taking them down or blocking them before phishing links spread widely. Police have also joined Interpol's first year-long AI-powered cyber operation targeting phishing and fraudulent links. Police stressed that the rapid evolution of AI poses a challenge to law enforcement and requires cooperation with mainland authorities and Interpol.