Josefa Sigavolavola 
Fiji loses $10m to cyber-attacks annually.
This was disclosed by the Ministry of Policing’s Cybercrime and Cybersecurity Manager Savenaca Siwatibau during a panel discussion in Suva yesterday.
The discussion was hosted by Datec Fiji Pte Ltd at the Grand Pacific Hotel to mark Fiji’s Scam Awareness Week.
While responding to a question, Siwatibau confirmed the millions that the country loses to scams and cyberattacks annually, calling for better cyber hygiene in Fiji.
“We lost nearly around $10M a year in scams, that is from the reports that we receive from people that doesn’t trust the organization to conduct an investigation, not everybody reports scams; some of them are even embarrassed to report scams that they got scammed.”
Siwatibau advised that in order to build a protected digital infrastructure in Fiji, the private sector and the Government must work together.
“Imagine a population of 900,000 people, and we are losing $10M a year, so everybody is impacted. Cyber hygiene is very important. I hope that resonates with everyone of us and everyone here has a part to play.”
Digital Director General at the Department of Communications Tupou Baravilala commented, saying proper cyber hygiene annihilates 90 percent of cyber threats worldwide.
“I think at the end of the day it’s all about the trust factor, with the industry it’s people, the partners and other countries, how do we ensure that there is security that we all hold ourselves accountable to.”
The urgent need for attention to the millions being lost to scams and cyber-attacks annually calls for a nationwide emphasis on proper cyber hygiene for every Fijian digital user.
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