One month after a cyber-attack brought down Vanuatu's government servers and websites, frustrated officials were still using private Gmail accounts, personal laptops, pen and paper, and typewriters to run the government of Prime Minister Ishmael Kalsakau, who took office just a few days after the crash.
Malware attacks on state networks have slowed communication and coordination in the Pacific island nation of 314,000 people spread across 80 islands. To find government phone numbers, people turned to the online Yellow Pages or the hard copy phone directory. Some offices were operating solely through their Facebook and Twitter pages.
According to a financial analyst who works closely with the ministry's cybersecurity teams, the problems began about a month ago, when suspicious phishing activity was first detected in emails to the Ministry of Finance.
Almost all government email and website archives were destroyed by malware. Many departments were still storing data on local computer drives rather than web servers or the cloud. There has been no official word on whether or not the hackers demanded a ransom.
“It is taking longer for payments [from the Ministry of Finance] to get out, but … we are always on Vanuatu time anyway,” stated the financial analyst.
Government departments have struggled to stay connected, frustrating officials, with spontaneous solutions for communication between agencies and departments being implemented. Many government offices on the outer islands are experiencing significant service delays.
“It was chaos during the first few days but the entire government made alternative Gmail accounts or used their private emails. We are all using telephones and mobile phones for communication. But we are resilient in Vanuatu as a small country and can manage this,” said Olivia Finau, a communications officer in the Ministry of Climate Change. “Our department is communicating with the public more now with Facebook and Twitter, and we are actually getting more followers.”
The attack did not cause any disruptions to civilian infrastructures, such as airline or hotel websites. The majority of tourism and business has continued as usual through the busy Christmas and New Year's seasons.
According to the analyst, the current system can be improved by upgrading software and storing files in the cloud for management. However, local officials lack the necessary expertise and "require outside assistance."
The government had previously reported that the attack took place on November 5, but a computer technician at the Office of the Government's Chief Information Officer and a foreign diplomat confirmed to the Guardian that the crash took place on October 30.
In the early days of the crisis, some Vanuatu authorities blamed the problem on bad weather, which damaged the internet infrastructure.
However, the diplomat said: “We noticed there was a problem right away … our team recognized this as having the hallmarks of a cyber-attack, and not being caused by weather.”
Internal communication breakdowns in the days following the attack exacerbated matters. On November 4, Prime Minister Kalsakau formally took office, and on November 5, the government formally acknowledged the problem.
The Australian government has offered assistance. "We sent a team in to assist with that disgraceful cyber-attack and response, and we are working through the process of bringing the government IT systems back up to speed," Pat Conroy, Australia's minister for international development and the Pacific, told Vanuatu Daily.
Cyber-attacks have wreaked havoc around the world in recent years, and Vanuatu's attack will serve as a warning to small Pacific nations with even weaker cybersecurity than Port Vila. Requests for comment were not returned by the Vanuatu Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO).
