Region: Cybersecurity weaknesses continue to drive ransomware surge across Pacific Islands

Around 10 March, Cyber security authorities in Tonga, Australia, and New Zealand issued a joint warning about increasing ransomware threats targeting several sectors, including health, across the South Pacific. The warning follows increased ransomware attacks by the “INC Ransom” group in Australia, New Zealand, and Pacific Island states since 2023. In June 2025, INC Ransom conducted a cyberattack on Tonga’s National Health Information System (NHIS), resulting in a system shutdown and reversion to manual operations (see SPI #24, dated 19 June - 2 July 2025).

Assessment: Ransomware activity in the South Pacific will likely increase in frequency and impact, with the health sector a primary target due to its quantities of sensitive data and weak cyber defenses. Since 2025, several Pacific island countries including Samoa, Papua New Guinea, Palau, New Caledonia, Cook Islands, and Niue have experienced cyber attacks targeting critical infrastructure, mainly health and financial institutions, indicating a pattern of exploiting limited investment in cybersecurity infrastructure, and reliance on third party service providers, including cloud platforms.

Sources: “Cyber security alert issued as ransomware threat grows across Pacific networks,” Talanoa o Tonga, March 10, 2026.