Hong Kong Chief Executive CY Leung [File photo]

Hong Kong leader CY Leung vowed to protect privacy and other rights of institutions and people in the city on Saturday as hundreds of local people took to streets to voice support of US whistle-blower Edward Snowden and concerns about reports of US surveillance on Hong Kong and mainland networks.

Chief Executive CY Leung says the government will handle the Edward Snowden case in accordance with the law.

He issued the statement tonight, saying: "When the relevant mechanism is activated, the government will handle the case of Mr. Snowden in accordance with the laws and established procedures of Hong Kong.

"The government will follow up on any incidents related to the privacy or other rights of institutions or people in Hong Kong being violated."

People protest outside the US consulate in Hong Kong and demand that the government protect the whistle-blower who is hiding in the city.

Hundreds of supporters of US whistle-blower Edward Snowden took to Hong Kong's streets on Saturday to demand that the government protect the whistle-blower who is hiding in the city. Many also expressed concerns about reports of US surveillance on Hong Kong and mainland networks.

Former Central Intelligence Agency analyst Edward Snowden told South China Morning Post, the US National Security Agency (NSA) has perpetrated hacking attacks on computers in Hong Kong and Chinese mainland since 2009.

NSA targets included computers belonging to the Chinese University of Hong Kong as well as public officials, businesses and students. His explosive claims have stunned and angered Hong Kong.

Several political parties in Hong Kong have made statements regarding Snowden's revelations. The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) publicly demanded that the American government should promptly clarify the situation and the SAR government should take this issue seriously.

The New Century Forum (NCF) went to protest in front of the US Consulate in Hong Kong as it believes that should Snowden's revelations be true, the American government has infringed upon personal privacy. James To Kun-sun, a lawmaker with the SAR legislative council, requested the council to invite Snowden to attend council meetings in order to draw up a detailed statement.

According to Snowden, there had been more than 61,000 NSA hacking operations globally, with hundreds of targets located in Hong Kong and on the mainland. "We hack network backbones – like huge internet routers, basically – that give us access to the communications of hundreds of thousands of computers without having to hack every single one," he said.

Analysts say that what Snowden referred to, is likely to be Hong Kong Internet eXchange (HKIX). HKIX is operated by the Information Technology Services Centre (ITSC) of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). HKIX is not a transit provider; yet instead is a layer-two settlement-free Internet exchange point.

Charles Peter Mok, the lawmaker representing the information technology sector, said HKIX, was very likely to be the CUHK target Snowden was referring to. He said, "It is the most convenient choice since it is the hub of all internet traffic within Hong Kong. But the attacks might not be traceable."

On Thursday, in a statement the CUHK said it had "not detected any form of hacking to the network which has been running normally."

It has also been revealed that the Satellite Remote Sensing Receiving Station within the CUHK campus might be another target for hackers. This station is one of the most important research facilities of satellite remote sensing in South China. The station has been collecting satellite images and data regarding environment and natural disaster surveillance, covering China's Jilin province, the whole Korean peninsula, southern Japan and northern Indonesia.

Cathy Huang, an analyst at Frost and Sullivan in Singapore, said that Hong Kong may be especially vulnerable to eavesdropping since its laissez faire economy left it lagging countries like Japan and Australia in setting and enforcing regulations on internet security, according to a Reuters report.

"Hong Kong is quite an open economy and therefore, the government doesn't have many stringent regulations to ensure organizations devote enough resources into Internet security," she said.