Pacific Islands Forum Targeted by Malicious Cyber Attack Ahead of Summit

Flags from the Pacific Islands countries displayed in Yaren on the last day of the Pacific Islands Forum on Sept. 5, 2018. Mike Leyral/AFP via Getty Images

The Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) was targeted in a cyber attack before its regional summit in late August.

New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) has characterised the incident as “malicious,” while the Australian government described the incident as “extensive.”

The hacking of the Secretariat—based in Suva, Fiji, and serves as the central administrative body of PIF—was first detected in February, though access was likely gained earlier.

The hackers appeared to seek information on the Forum’s communications with member nations and details about the Secretariat’s operations.

The Australian government sent a team of cyber specialists, composed of both government and private sector experts, to Fiji to assist with the intrusion.

Analysis by the Australian Cyber Security Centre reportedly found that the attack was the work of a group backed by Beijing, but the Secretariat has not publicly disclosed the attack, nor attributed it to any nation.

While the Australian government did not confirm the incident, or that it had sent a team to assist, a spokesperson for New Zealand’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Winston Peters, confirmed that the Minister had been briefed on a cyber incident affecting the PIF Secretariat systems.

“We remain concerned by the growing number of malicious cyber incidents in our region, targeting national entities and regional organisations,” Peters’ spokesperson said.

“Australia’s assistance to rapidly support the forum secretariat to remediate their systems following this incident is deeply appreciated.”

CCP-backed Hacking Becoming More Frequent

Australia has publicly attributed previous cyber-attacks to Chinese state-backed groups, including those linked to the Chinese Communist Party’s Ministry of State Security (MSS).

Earlier this year, New Zealand’s government also blamed an MSS-linked group for a cyber attack on its parliament.

The 18-member forum has drawn increased global attention as Beijing’s actions in the region become increasingly assertive, vying for influence against the United States and its allies.

The Forum’s final communique was quickly withdrawn, and an amended version was issued when references to Taiwan infuriated Chinese Communist Party observers.

The Solomon Islands, Beijing’s most vocal supporter in the South Pacific, had lobbied to strip Taiwan of its “development partner” status with the forum, but failed to win majority support.

Earlier this year, Palau—which maintains diplomatic ties with Taiwan—accused the Chinese Communist Party of orchestrating a large-scale cyber attack on its computer networks.

Pacific Islands Forum secretary Baron Waqa, who has urged Beijing and Wahington to resolve their disputes outside the Pacific, is expected to speak to the media on Sept. 13.