FIJI'S lack of resources and capacity are limitations to the effort to provide adequate measures against international criminal acts probing the country.
This was one of the revelations made by the acting Minister for Defence, National Security and Immigration, Joketani Cokanasiga during the opening of the Cyber Security Workshop at the Fiji Police Academy in Suva yesterday.
Mr Cokanasiga said Fiji faced a dramatic change in the security of its environment because of the emergence of globalisation and trade liberalisation.
He said globalisation and trade liberalisation have created a borderless state bringing with it new security concerns and diverse implications like transnational crime, money laundering, human and drug trafficking and terrorism.
"Island states, including Fiji are vulnerable to cybercrime activities arising from a number of factors; the technical complexity of cybercrimes, the sophisticated nature of electronics, lack of inadequate legislation to monitor cybercrime activities and the high level of skills and expertise required to investigate and prosecute cybercrime," Mr Cokanasiga said.
He said while studies showed that ICT was an enabler for economic growth, studies also showed that the illicit use of ICT could have a debilitating impact on Fiji's critical infrastructures, affect social and economic development, national security and stability of a country.
"Today cybercrime is no longer about those who seek access to computer systems for fun or simply to prove that it can be done.
"The threat is constantly evolving as new opportunities to old crime to new ways are being developed," Mr Cokanasiga said.