Pacific data needed to tackle cybercrime

More Pacific-specific research is needed to understand how cybercrime and technology-facilitated violence affect communities in Fiji and across the region.

South Pacific Community ICT Infrastructure Lead Makereta Gavidi made the statement during a panel discussion at the National Cybersecurity Convention at the Grand Pacific Hotel yesterday.

She said cyber threats affected people differently depending on factors such as gender, age and personal circumstances.

Men could be targeted by certain forms of extortion and violent crime, while women were often more vulnerable to technology-facilitated sexual abuse, particularly within relationships, she said.

“Technology itself is gender-neutral, but cyber-attacks involve human perpetrators and human victims,” Ms Gavidi said, stressing the importance of understanding the circumstances surrounding each incident.

Although cybercriminals used similar methods worldwide, cultural and religious factors in the Pacific could influence whether victims reported incidents or sought help, she said.

“So in that space for us in the Pacific region, I think what is more important now is, I think it's already been surfaced, that the data to be collected has to have our voices, Pacific voices, Pacific data, in our context, so that we are able to facilitate or inform policies, inform solutions, practitioners as well, to cater solutions that are more informed by our voices,” she said.

“I think that's something that is missing, that needs to happen more, I think that has been identified as a priority, that data from the Pacific needs to come through, needs to be collected in terms of the space that we're looking at, so that it informs solutions that then reflect our reality, what's there.”

Ms Gavidi also highlighted the human element of cybersecurity, saying criminals often exploited people’s vulnerabilities rather than weaknesses in technology.

“People are not perfect, and cybercriminals take advantage of human vulnerabilities,” she said, calling for greater emphasis on building “human cyber resilience” alongside technological safeguards.

She warned against assuming cyber threats affected only women, saying both men and women were victims. More local research was essential to better understand the scale and nature of cybercrime and online violence in Fiji and the wider Pacific, she said.