The Pacific Islands Forum has been targeted in a “malicious” hack, a spokesman for New Zealand’s foreign minister said Thursday, revealing an attack that hit the bloc in the runup to a recent regional summit.
A rapid response team of Australian specialists was despatched to the Forum’s headquarters in Fiji after the hack was detected earlier this year, the spokesman said, months before a high-stakes August meeting of leaders.
“We remain concerned by the growing number of malicious cyber incidents in our region, targeting national entities and regional organisations,” the spokesman added, without indicating who was responsible.
“Australia’s assistance to rapidly support the Forum Secretariat to remediate their systems following this incident is deeply appreciated.”
The 18-member forum has drawn increased global attention as China vies for regional influence against the United States and its allies.
These tensions came to the fore at the Forum’s August meeting, when references to “Taiwan” in a joint declaration infuriated Chinese diplomats.
Solomon Islands, China’s main partner in the South Pacific, had spent the week lobbying for Taiwan to be stripped of its “development partner” status with the Forum.
Forum secretary Baron Waqa, who has warned China and the United States to take their “fight” out of the Pacific, was expected to speak to the media on Friday.
