Many cybersecurity tools in Fiji go unused or misconfigured, fueling the rise in phishing and cyber extortion.

Despite growing investments in cybersecurity tools, many organizations in Fiji are not fully utilizing or properly configuring them, leaving them vulnerable to phishing and cyber extortion attacks, experts warn.

In a recent panel discussion, Communication Ministry’s Digital Director General Tupou Baravilala says that most times organizations who purchase expensive cybersecurity tools are still left vulnerable due to utilization issues.

“One of the key things that we’ve been seeing as well is with a lot of companies and a lot of the cases that we’re seeing, is you may have purchased this but you haven’t actually turned on the function, the controls and the functionality that it needs and so that’s one of the things that we’re looking at, you can purchase the most expensive tool but if you don’t know how to use it or you’re not using it to its full capacity than its useless because that’s the gap as well.”

While phishing remains the top cyber threat across Fiji and the wider Pacific, Baravilala says organizations would have a higher chance of risk proofing their digital infrastructure by simply adopting proper cyber hygiene.

“I think one of the things that we need to do as entities as organizations, is championing these culture of safe hygiene, cyber hygiene practices because it really will help, you know Microsoft has come up with a report that 99 percent of the cyber-attacks that we’re seeing can be prevented with basic cyber hygiene.”

Meanwhile, the Government is advancing the National Privacy and Personal Data Protection Policy, which will lay the foundation for stronger data protection laws and compliance frameworks aimed at enhancing cybersecurity nationwide.

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