Majority of reports on cyberbullying, according to the Online Security Commission, were received from females.

Anne Dunn, Commissioner for Online Safety, speaking during the Top Executive (TOPEX) Conference at Pullman Nadi Bay Resort said the average age of the individuals who reported cyberbullying to the OSC is 34 years old.

“Majority of the content amount to cyberbullying,” Ms Dunn said.

She said cyber security and cyber safety are interlinked but not the same thing as cyber safety focused on people.

Ms Dunn said under the Act OSC does not have the authority to prosecute people.

“We have had four cases which we have referred to police.”

Ms Dunn said there was a need to develop adequate internal policies that dealt with online safety such as cyberbullying.

“You need to evaluate online presence as a business,” Ms Dunn said.

Louisa Tuimabualau of Fiji Human Resources Institute, Veera Chute and Monica Chute of Value City at the TOPEX Conference at Pullman Nadi Bay Resort on Photo: Charles Chambers

Tunde Fasheun, Marsh Risk Consulting, Australia.

Mr Fasheun said organizations with vast amounts of personal and confidential data, such as cloud providers, telecommunications, retail and hospitality, were subjected to increase volumes of attacks.

“Post incident investigations conducted by Mandiant experts in 2018 recorded a 30% increase over 2017, a volume higher than any previous years.

“Cloud service providers are also increasingly attacked by Advance Persistent Threats (APTs) through multiple pathways, techniques and entry points.

“APT attacks are becoming more frequent due to its relatively higher success rates, despite requiring greater amount of efforts, resources and more detailed planning.”

Mr Fasheun said the accelerated digitalization of countries and industries amplified the systemic effects from cyber-attacks and increased the severity of successful cyber-attacks.

Feedback:  charles.chambers@fijisun.com.fj