TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Communication and Informatics (Kominfo) Ministry confirmed that it has been informed about the alleged leak of 34,900,867 Indonesian citizens' passport data. The ministry’s Director General for Applications and Informatics Semuel A. Pangerapan said his side has not yet concluded that there is indeed a data leak.

“A conclusion is taken after several stages of careful examination of the circulating data,” Semuel said in a written statement on Wednesday, July 5, 2023.

A Twitter account @secgron belonging to a cyber security expert Teguh Aprianto first brought up the alleged data leak on Wednesday at 13:50 Jakarta time. He tweeted that as many as 34 million passport data have been leaked and sold.

He also posted a screenshot of an offer for 34 million Indonesian citizens' passport data priced at US$10,000 or around Rp150,766,500. According to him, the hacker provided a sample of one million data that he considered valid with the timestamps of 2009-2020.

In response to the circulating information, Semuel said Kominfo is coordinating with related parties, including the National Cyber and Encryption Agency (BSSN) and the Immigration Directorate General at the Law and Human Rights Ministry, to conduct the investigation.

Semuel said the results of the investigation would be announced soon. Kominfo Ministry also encouraged all digital platform providers and personal data managers to improve user data security, “in accordance with the applicable provisions of personal data protection and ensure the security of the electronic system being operated.”

M. FAIZ ZAKI

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