China-linked hackers hit Fiji: US embassy

Hackers with links to China compromised a regional organization in Fiji, the Pacific nation’s US embassy said yesterday, warning that governments and telecommunication networks in the region were also being targeted.

Fiji is emerging as a major telecommunications hub in the Pacific islands, as Google expands a network of subsea cables connecting the US military outpost of Guam, US defense ally Australia, French Polynesia and the mainland US, via Fiji’s capital, Suva.

Fijian Minister of Police and Communication Ioane Naivalurua said he was reviewing the situation after the US embassy announced that a “regional organization in Suva” had its network hacked between July and August.

Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka speaks during a news conference at the Grand Pacific Hotel in Suva on July 6.

Photo: AFP

“Hackers with links to China maintained access to the organization’s network over several days,” the embassy said in a statement posted on Facebook, without identifying the organization.

US officials have previously urged cable host Fiji to boost cybersecurity to guard against data risks from China.

Naivalurua said that police were investigating the reported attack and urged governments, organizations and the private sector to “take preventative action and harden the security of their respective digital systems.”

In Beijing, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Mao Ning (毛寧) said the ministry was not aware of the case, but that it “firmly opposes hacking activities and cracks down on them in accordance with the law.”

“At the same time, we also oppose using cybersecurity issues to smear China,” Mao told a regular briefing.

Fiji’s government on Friday asked the US to provide evidence for its claim last week that a Chinese state agency employee living in Fiji had paid bribes on behalf of Beijing.

The US Department of State accused the man living in Suva of “significant corruption.”

The US embassy yesterday pointed to action taken by the FBI in August to combat China-sponsored hackers targeting critical infrastructure in the US.

The FBI action “matters directly for the Pacific,” the embassy said.

A group of hackers called QTFY included former members of China’s military, working for a company paid by the Chinese Ministry of State Security, had targeted NASA, the US Department of Energy and power companies, an FBI affidavit said.

China-linked hackers were targeting foreign governments, organizations and telecommunications networks in the Pacific islands, the embassy wrote on Facebook.

The region’s political bloc, the Pacific Islands Forum, said it was not the organization that had been hacked.

“While the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat is not affected, cybersecurity is increasingly important to the Pacific as the region’s digital security is closely linked to its economic resilience, national sovereignty, regional security, and wellbeing of Pacific communities,” a forum spokeswoman said.