Tourism Ministry's Instagram Hacked; Sandiaga Uno Talks of Poor Cyber Defense

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The official Instagram account of the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry was hacked by an unknown party. Tourism Minister Sandiaga Uno said that this incident proved the vulnerability of the cyber defense system in Indonesia.

Sandiaga claimed that the ministry has coordinated with a number of parties, including Instagram and Meta (Facebook) regarding the hacking.

"This is what I have said in the past year or so that we really need to focus on three things in the digitalization sector," Sandiaga said in a written statement, Thursday, March 10, 2022.

The three things that must be addressed immediately are cyber security, digital payments, and financial technology (fintech) or investment and financing through technology platforms.

Sandiaga asserted that solutions must be sought for the three issues given that the cost in dealing with cyber hacking is pricey.

Due to the hacking of the ministry's account with more than 800,000 followers, Sandiaga Uno said people will face difficulties obtaining information related to the latest policies. 

Based on the current monitoring, the official account belonging to the Tourism Ministry, @kemenparekraf.ri, still could not be found on Instagram.

FAIZ ZAKI | FRANCISCA CHRISTY ROSANA