Cybercrime, cybersecurity literacy and resources challenge MSMEs

By Brittany Nawaqatabu

Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises(MSMEs) are vulnerable to cybercrime and have limited cybersecurity literacy, a Cyber Security Conference in Suva has heard this week.

The conference brought together cybersecurity leaders, regional experts, and forward-thinking professionals to address the growing challenges posed by Artificial Intelligence (AI), cloud complexity, and other evolving online security challenges.

Fiji’s Commerce & Employers Federation (FCEF) Chief Executive Officer, Edward Bernard laid out the challenges and opportunities of cybersecurity for MSMEs, including limited resources and expertise, as well as insufficient legal and regulatory frameworks.

He said that rapid digital adoption without sufficient safeguards is an issue , as is high dependence on external infrastructure and services and limited participation in national cybersecurity frameworks.

Bernard said there is still work to do around the existing National Cybersecurity Strategy.

“If you look at the National Cybersecurity Strategy it talks about raising awareness on business needs and developing our workforce so that there is expertise available to MSMEs”, he said.

The 2025–2029 MSME Strategic Plan and 2025–2030 National Digital Strategy encourage MSMEs to adopt digital technologies by promoting online business registration through the BusinessNow portal, facilitating online applications for MSME grants, and developing a national database of MSMEs.

“This database will have very critical information and communication about where MSMEs can apply for grants”, he stated.

At the top of the cybersecurity threats to MSMEs are phishing and credential theft.

“These are done through the increase of AI tools, unverified chats and voice cloning”, he said

He added that there is enough information in the cybersecurity strategy to identify what needs to be done.

“We need to now look at all the other policies that are available and bring them together. The online safety commission and the cyber crime team would also need to work together”, he shared.

Bernard concluded by encouraging collaboration between the private sector and the government to roll out awareness raising and training.