Indonesia to Establish Domestic Cloud Computing Ability

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian government announced that it is currently preparing a local cloud computing service following the recent series of data breaches committed by a hacker, 'Bjorka'. The hacker’s disruption of local cybersecurity measures had also forced Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to form a dedicated team. 

The announcement was confirmed by Presidential Staff Office chief Moeldoko on Monday, September 19, 2022. "The KSP will handle it and will be reported to the President once it is better formed," Moeldoko said. 

Data breaches began occur on September 9, when Bjorka published classified letters linked to President Jokowi. A few days later, the personal data belonging to a number of state ministers were exposed by the hacker.

On September 12, Jokowi ordered the Minister of Communication and Information Johnny Gerard Plate to form an emergency response team to deal with the data breaches. On September 14, Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Mahfud Md announced the establishment of a data protection task force.

Later on September 15, Moeldoko invited a number of officials to his office at the Bina Graha headquarters in Jakarta. Those present in the meeting were the Head of the National Cyber and Crypto Agency (BSSN) Hinsa Siburian, President Director of PT Industri Telekomunikasi Indonesia (INTI) Edi Witjara, and Phidi Soepangkat CEO of PT DekstopIP Teknologi Indonesia.

"We must not neglect to deal with this problem. We'll be seen as weak if it's ignored," said Moeldoko. 

Moeldoko asserted that the data leaks were a signal for the government to improve cybersecurity and privacy protection. "We have the technology, we also have talents who are experts in cyber security," Moeldoko added.

INTI president director Edi Witjara said that his firm had developed a local cloud system called the INTI cloud system, a domestic cloud service platform and blockchain innovation equipped with cybersecurity. This service is the result of cooperation with BSSN. "The hope is that it can become the pride of national cyber security," said Edi.

Moeldoko said that all that were gathered in the meeting is intended to achieve the government’s vision toward cloud service independence. Moeldoko admitted that Cloud services so far have been sourced from overseas. "So far, our Cloud engine comes from outside," he explained.

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