USP Tonga won the cyber security incident response challenge, also known as ‘Capture the Flag’, which was held by Tonga's Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) and Australia, as part of Tonga’s Cyber Resilience Week.

Participants included Tupou Tertiary Institute and the University of the South Pacific Tonga, the public sector, the Tonga Women in ICT (TWICT) Network, His Majesty’s Armed Forces, and the National Reserve Bank of Tonga. They worked together in teams to tackle key cyber threats such as ransomware, data breaches, and phishing.

“The future of cyber capability in Tonga is bright," said the facilitators from Australia’s Retrospect Labs and the Australian Cyber Security Center.

They were impressed with the technical, communication, problem solving, and leadership skills, demonstrated throughout the day, stated the Australian High Commission.

 A leadership award was presented to a representative from His Majesty’s Armed Forces.