Skip to content
Subscriber Only
Technology
Cybersecurity

Ransomware Hackers Freeze Millions in Papua New Guinea

  • The government’s payment system has been locked by hackers
  • Attackers demand payment from nation hard hit by Covid-19
Relentless Hacking Is Turning All of Us Into Data Nihilists
Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg
Updated on

Papua New Guinea’s finance department acknowledged late Thursday that its payment system, which manages access to hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign aid money, was hit with a ransomware attack.

The attack on the Department of Finance’s Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS) occurred at 1 a.m. local time on Oct. 22, according to a statement released by John Pundari, finance minister and acting treasurer.