China has been wooing Pacific island nations and funded the parliament in Vanuatu. This image shows Fijian PM Frank Bainimarama watching China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi sign a bilateral deal with Fiji in May. File photo: Fiji government.
The government of Vanuatu – a nation of about 80 islands in the Pacific – has been knocked offline for about a fortnight after an alleged cyber-attack on November 4 on the country’s servers, according to a report by the BBC, which said many websites such as the police and government email system were down, while schools, hospitals and other emergency services were also affected.
The shutdown has left the country’s 315,000 citizens scrambling to carry out basic tasks like paying tax, invoicing bills and getting licences and travel visas, the report said, adding that the government – which is being courted vigorously by both Beijing and western nations such as Australia – had refused to pay a ransom for the attack, said to have originated in Asia.
Read the full report: The BBC.
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