Pacific countries are being encouraged to make sure their internet safety measures are robust following a cyber attack in the Marshall Islands.
The National Telecommunications Authority was hit with a sudden four-fold increase in incoming email on Tuesday, leading to the shutdown of email traffic to the country.
The Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat's Economic Infrastructure advisor says the cyber attack in the Marshalls is a wake up call for Pacific countries.
John Budden, who also specialises in ICT, says Pacific countries are more vulnerable because such attacks are from outside the country.
But he says there are some things countries can do.
"Make ourselves more robust, make ourselves able to switch off or divert or whatever else to make sure we have got redundant capacity in one way or another, alternate routes or things that make the overall network to this stream of traffic."
John Budden says the problems which arise from such attacks can take a while to sort out.
