Vanuatu’s Public Service remains crippled and hospital staff have resorted to using pen and paper almost a month after a ransomware attack on the Government.
Government servers, emails and other online systems have been disrupted by the cyber-attack, slowing systems such as pay services and delaying the delivery of goods.
Cyber-security staff were made aware of the attack after Government websites became inaccessible, with some redirected to the sites of groups believed to be behind the attack.
Minister for Climate Change, Ralph Regenvanu said the attack came less than 24 hours after the new Government was formed following the October General Election.
“This cyber-attack took the whole system down — and it’s down now so it is affecting our work,” Mr Regenvanu said.
“We put in place the necessary decisions and so on to get it fixed, and the people are working on it, but it is a serious breach of our national security.”
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that many Government employees had resorted to using their personal email services and hotspots to do their work.
Medical Superintendent at Vanuatu’s main hospital, Port Vila Central, Vincent Atua said patient care had not been impacted, but the online system to pay suppliers was not working and that was a “major, major issue”.
“Staff have gone back to using pen and paper and have begun walking their messages to other departments to get things done,” Dr Atua (pictured) said.
“We’re just going back to how we used to do things in the olden days.”
He said hospital staff were still getting paid their basic salaries, but overtime payments and other entitlements had been placed on hold.
Dr Atua said the hospital’s management team was planning to look at ways to install a back-up internet system.
Mr Regenvanu said the Government was worried about the attack and its impact.
“We are very concerned about how we fix it given what’s happening in the world today, not only in terms of technology and cyber matters, but also in terms of geopolitics,” he said.
Port Vila, 1 December 2022
