The Ministry of Home Affairs is working to protect Fiji’s critical infrastructure from all hazards, including the dynamic and potentially catastrophic threats enabled by cyber attacks.
For this, it is partnering with Government, public and private stakeholders to develop a proposed national critical infrastructure, cyber incident response and recovery framework.
Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration permanent secretary Manasa Lesuma highlighted this while presenting the ministry’s submission on the Convention on Cybercrime to the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence on Monday.
“This proposed framework will incorporate Critical Infrastructure Computer Emergency Response Team, (CICERT) and a Critical Infrastructure Computer Security Incident Response Team (CICSIRT),” Mr Lesuma said.
“The designated information security experts will form the CICERT and is primarily responsible for the protection against detection of and response to cyber security incidents within the critical infrastructure community.
“The Critical Infrastructure Computer Security Incident Response Team will consist of information security experts within each critical infrastructure organization, whose main goal is to respond to critical infrastructure, computer security incidents quickly and effectively and efficiently, thus regaining control and minimising damage.”
He said parties to the Budapest Convention would have opportunities to receive and share invaluable information of pervasive threats in cyberspace, which would best be utilised by the CICERT and the CICSIRT teams for awareness and proactive protection initiatives within the critical infrastructure community.
“Fiji proceeding to the convention would further enhance the response components of the national critical infrastructure Cyber Incident Response and recover framework through international corporations and collaborations with parties to the conventions from a response and retribution stance.
“Cyber threat incidents within the critical infrastructure community, requiring law enforcement response would be effectively and efficiently addressed through access to international and cooperation and mechanisms and capacity building.”
