Tonga refuses to pay ransom to health hackers

The Tongan Government refuses to pay a USD$1 million ransom demanded by hackers who have taken control of the National Health Information System for nearly two weeks. The government decision was communicated by the Minister for Police and Cyber Security, Hon. Piveni Piukala, to the media on June 26. Minister Piukala said the ransom will not be paid and expressed confidence in the work of Australian cyber experts, who are trying to regain control of the system. According to Piukala, they are close to achieving such a goal.
At present, medical staff are unable to access the encrypted health information system and have been forced to rely on paper-based record-keeping after the cyber-attack. Minister Piukala said this situation highlights issues with the network’s security control architecture in the country. To address these issues, a delegation from Tonga will be travelling to Australia in two weeks to discuss ways to improve national cybersecurity. Meanwhile, the matter will be assessed next week in Tonga during a meeting for the communication sectors.