Ransomware Attack Paralyzes Vanuatu’s Government Ministries and Departments

The Office of the Vanuatu Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO) has confirmed the Government’s Broadband Network has been compromised since Sunday, November 6, 2022. As a result all the online services such as email, network shares, VoIP services and other government online services offered by the government are currently down. This has paralysed all government ministries and department causing widespread delays throughout the country.

The cyber attackers demanded a ransom after the network was initially crippled last week, but Vanuatu’s government has refused to pay. The identity of the hackers and the value of the ransom has not been released. The Australian Cybersecurity Centre in the Australian Signals Directorate is assisting Vanuatu’s government in rebuilding the system, according to foreign affairs and security officials familiar with the situation. Vanuatu’s government has now been without effective access to its internal systems for more than a week as engineers attempt to rebuild the entire system from scratch.

Estimated Cost

Access to internal systems cut off for over a week.

Threat Source

Impacts

IT