Ransomware Breaks into PDN, Why are Government Agencies Vulnerable to Cyber Attacks?

Ransomware breaches the PDN, Why are Government Agencies Vulnerable to Cyber Attacks?

Dream - Cyber security expert from Ethical Hackers Indonesia, Teguh Aprianto, said that the cyber attack on the Temporary National Data Center (PDNS) which occurred on Thursday, June 20, 2024, was the worst in a long list of government data breaches.

Ransomware Breaks into PDN, Why are Government Agencies Vulnerable to Cyber Attacks?

Quoting BBC Indonesia, the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (Kemenkominfo) stated that the cyber attack has affected 282 government institutions, including 56 ministries. It is suspected that the cyber attack is a variant of the ransomware Lockbit 3.0 called brain chiper. Lockbit is a hacking group from Russia.

"Hackers also demanded a ransom of US$8 million (equivalent to Rp131 billion). However, the Indonesian Government remains adamant about not paying the ransom. So, why are government agencies still vulnerable to cyber attacks?"

According to Teguh Aprianto, the government's data center is still vulnerable because the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (Kemkominfo) and the State Cyber and Crypto Agency (BSSN) have not been serious in handling cyber attacks. "When a direct attack occurs, it paralyzes and disrupts public services. It means that each institution has problems," said Teguh to BBC Indonesia.

According to Teguh, both institutions have always been overwhelmed and confused when facing cyber attacks targeting government data. He continued, the attacks prove the lack of serious enforcement actions taken to address vulnerabilities in the government data system.

"We still don't have a blueprint until now (to handle cyber attacks). For example, when an attack occurs, what should be done? We still don't have crisis management,"

revealed Teguh

"According to Teguh, the government should prepare a backup data center as a preventive measure to ensure that incidents like this do not occur. He also suggested that the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology and the National Cyber and Encryption Agency (BSSN) review and improve their systems in order to anticipate future cyber attacks."

Teguh Aprianto also said that the impact of this government data leak will have three possible data misuse that endanger society, namely structured fraud, online gambling, and identity misuse.

This is not the first time a cyber attack on government agency data has occurred. In November 2023, around 204 million voter data for the 2024 Election were allegedly breached from the General Election Commission (KPU) website. An anonymous account named "Jimbo" claimed responsibility for the data theft. Previously, in July 2023, an account named "Bjorka" leaked approximately 34 million passport data of Indonesian citizens. In the same month, 337 million data from the Ministry of Home Affairs' Civil Registry (Dukcapil) were hacked by a hacker using the name "RRR".

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