A website raising awareness on cybersecurity was launched in Tonga today by the Minister for MEIDECC Hon Poasi Tei.

The GetSafeOnline Tonga [2] website aims to raise awareness about online risks and to educate businesses and individuals on how to protect themselves from online threats such as phishing scams, identity theft, ransomware, malware, and viruses.

Hon Poasi Tei said providing this online security and safety information for the people of Tonga was timely, as organizations and individuals increasingly spent more time online to conduct business, education and social interactions due to the COVID-19 related restrictions.

The website was designed by Get Safe Online, a non-government organization based in the United Kingdom in collaboration with MEIDECC’s CERT Tonga and Tongan Women in Information and Communications Technology (TWiICT).

It was funded by the U.K. Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Commonwealth Cybersecurity Programme.

“The website nicely complements other initiatives that MEIDECC is currently working on with its stakeholders including the Computer Crimes Bill, the Digital Child Exploitation Filtering System as well as awareness campaigns on online threats to organizations and businesses,” said MEIDECC CEO Paula Ma’u.

Get Safe Online is also creating websites and facebook pages to raise awareness on cybersecurity in other Pacific Island countries including Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.