4 Photos
Coordinated by the Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau of the Crime Wing and the Counter Terrorism & Major Incidents Bureau of the Operations Wing, the “Counter Cyber and Physical Terrorism Joint Exercise 2026”, codenamed “STEALTHNET”, was conducted on April 16 with more than 380 participants. Law enforcement agencies such as the INTERPOL, the Macao Judiciary Police, the Singapore Police Force and Cyber Security Agency of Singapore, the Korean National Police Agency, as well as the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, a local and a Macao bank also took part in the exercise.
The exercise first simulated a terrorist financing scenario to test the Police’s ability to track suspicious fund flows. Subsequently, a cross-border terrorist cell launched cyber and physical attacks against the financial, aviation and healthcare systems across the four jurisdictions, and placed explosive devices and deployed drones at major event venues to create chaos to test the participating organisations’ capabilities in intelligence sharing, coordinated response, rapid reaction and joint operations under the high-pressure environment of emerging hybrid terrorist threats. A large-scale emergency evacuation was also incorporated in the exercise to enhance command and coordination effectiveness.
The Exercise also focused on strengthening the cooperation between law enforcement agencies and operators of critical infrastructures such as financial institutions. Through the financial analysis conducted by the Financial Intelligence and Investigation Bureau, together with bank and blockchain transaction records, the Force was able to track the fund flow and shared the intelligence immediately with the participating law enforcement agencies through the INTERPOL platform. Ultimately, officers from various units of the Force swiftly deployed, thwarted the attack and arrested five terrorists in connection with the case.
The Exercise also invited a cybersecurity company to be a member of the Cybersecurity Task Force to conduct intelligence analysis, as well as to provide professional advice on neutralising cyber threats and malware attacks.
The exercise not only enhanced the coordination capabilities of the participating law enforcement agencies in responding to hybrid terrorist threats, but also further consolidated regional counter-terrorism cooperation, safeguarding public safety and social stability.
