DFAT cyber team to help TCC respond to ransomware attack
20 February 2023. A cyber team from Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) arrived in Tonga on Saturday, February 18 to assist with recovering and restoring Tonga Communications Corporation (TCC) system that was attacked by a ransomware at the beginning of this month.
The Australian High Commissioners Officials, Deputy High Commissioner and First Secretary met with CERT Tonga, DFAT Cyber team and TCC’s CEO Mr. Sione Veikoso on February 16 and 17 to discuss key areas that need to be prioritized as they await the team’s arrival.
DFAT’s cyber team is willing to assist with the infrastructure such as server, incident response, digital forensic analysis and help with the response to the attack.
The team will perform system hardening to reduce security risk and review the government’s datacenter at Matatoa to ensure that the system is secured and was not compromised by the recent MedusaLocker ransomware attack or any other malware.
CERT NZ Visit
A team of three from CERT NZ also arrived in Tonga February 18 to hold bilateral meetings with CERT Tonga.
Areas of priorities that will be discussed during the meeting include building the capacity of CERT Tonga’s staff and further develop the working relations between the two organizations.
CERT Tonga will also co-host with CERT NZ a three-days training intended for IT personnel from public enterprises and some government ministries.
The two organizations collaborated to assist TCC, initially when TCC reported the attack on their system.
The CERT NZ team will depart Tonga on Friday 24 February next week.
- CERT Tonga
