Major Blackout; PLN Urged to Form Cyber Counter-terrorism Team

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The security and intelligence analyst, Ridlwan Habib, opined that the major power outage in Jakarta Greater Area and some regions of West Java on Sunday, August 4, must be addressed seriously by PLN. According to him, the state-run electricity firm must conduct an investigation to seek the cause as soon as possible.

“Including the possibility of cyber terrorism in electric infrastructure,” said Habib in a written statement, Sunday, August 4.

Ridlwan said that the corporate’s top priority should be to find the roots of the problem. Moreover, the incident was covered by international media which showed Jakarta as the country’s capital was paralyzed sans electric power. “This is alarming for the national security system.”

PLN, he stressed, must take extra caution over cyber-terrorism attack in the main power plants, either in extra-high voltage transmission (sutet) or substation (gitet), considering the incident was similar to that of occurred in Argentina. The country’s government suspected a cyberattack toward its electric installation.

The cyber terrorism attack could cause disruptions in the control system of the electric frequency and supply. If the power outage could not be anticipated, Ridlwan went on, it could trigger public panic.

“PLN must establish cyber counter-terrorism team to monitor all installation network, including field officers’ tools and email to maintain safety from an attack,” he said.

Ridlwan continued that the emergency and mitigation plan of the corporate must be evaluated, such as its emergency response procedures in the central city’s installations. It could also collaborate with the National Cyber and Encryption Agency (BSSN) that could early detect a cyber attack.

Additionally, it is necessary for PLN to build emergency communication system to uphold communication between boards when telecommunication provider went down. 

HALIDA BUNGA FISANDRA