Tonga's health system 'fully restored' after cyber attack with Australia's help
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Problems resulting from a cyber attack on Tonga's Health Information System appear to have been resolved.
The assault on the system a month ago led to a demand by the hackers for a ransom of one million dollars.
RNZ Pacific Tonga correspondent Kalafi Moala updated us about the latest developments.
(This transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity.)
KALAFI MOALA:
The system was hacked, the health information system, and they asked for payment of a million dollars to have the system back.
The government or the Ministry of Health refused to make any payments. In the meantime, they called for help to Australia, who sent their expertise to help them out.
The way the Minister of Health (Dr ʻAna ʻAkauʻola) described it was that it was within 48 hours they were able to call for help, and immediately there was a response. And it was very, very key in helping them restore the system.
DON WISEMAN: The presumption has always been that these villains located overseas. Do we know any more about that?
KM:
No, there's nothing that has been revealed, or at least that has been disclosed from the ministry, other than the fact that they're from overseas. They couldn't put a face to them.
In other words, they were not any individuals, just that there was a group that did that. But the talk, of course, the guesses in town is that probably there's a group overseas that had local connections that did the hacking.
DW: The Australians have left. Have they left a system in place that's stronger than it was before they made that announcement?
KM:
The Minister of Health made that announcement yesterday (Wednesday), saying that the system has been fully restored. She used the term, saying there's still some gaps, but they're back into it.
I think with the restoration of the system, they also have had a backup, so that if this thing happens again, they've got a backup to the information system.
DW: Tongans who had health issues, or have health issues, had been told that they needed to take what information they had. Hand written, I guess, information they had to take into appointments, outpatient appointments and so on. That's not still happening?
KM:
Well, no, that's not happening. But they were basically responding to the shock that came from people saying, what's going to happen to us now if we're going to go in when some of the patients don't even know the kind of records they get. For example, things that they are allergic to, the kind of medication and its details that they were given.
So, the restoration of the system really recovers all of that without having the patient to be able to come into the hospital and and try to bring up all that information. I think it's really good, and it's returned to what it was.
DW: I guess the officials and health are very concerned about things and so with the government. But to what extent did it bother the people?
KM:
Well, it really was a scare for people. Look, the immediate response was, what does this mean for me? The thing is, a patient, 'I've got my own personal information in somebody else's hands, who's a criminal who not only stole it, but basically are demanding money for the returning of that information.
But one of the issues is that Tonga is turning to become digital in so many of its services, like you go to apply now for birth certificate, marriage certificate, and all those things are being now, including visas, being now done digitally.
And so that transition, it means that all the government systems are going to be digital. This hacking that took place, it's like a warning that we need to be careful in what we're doing, and we need to have backup systems, and that security is so important as Tonga is becoming more digital in its government services.
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