Bawaslu Receives 7,650 Cyber Attacks Ahead of 2024 Elections

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Election Supervisory Board’s (Bawaslu) coordinator for violation mitigation, data, and information, Puadi, said that Bawaslu has received 7,650 reports of cyber attacks across Indonesia ahead of the 2024 general elections. The attacks were detected in 116 out of the 514 regencies/cities in Indonesia.

In response, Bawaslu established the Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT) supervised by the National Cyber and Encryption Agency (BSSN). The team is now focusing on Bali, South Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi, West Kalimantan, and West Sumatra following multiple reports of cyber attacks.

"Several provinces still need measures [to tackle the attacks]," said Puadi at the CSIRT inauguration in North Jakarta on Monday, March 13, 2023.

Puadi explained that the cyber attacks include attempts to steal confidential data belonging to Bawaslu, data on election dispute resolution, data on administrative violations, and voters' data. CSIRT in various regions will later report the alleged fraud to the Central Office of Bawaslu which will then execute them.

Later during the 2024 general elections, Puadi explained that Bawaslu will start using technology in monitoring, handling violations, and resolving disputes that comply with the principles of transparency, efficiency, and effectiveness.

Puadi said that the application of information and communication technology (ICT) in elections would help improve the quality of election supervision. However, it also poses a new threat, namely cyber attacks on the data and information systems used.

"The impact of this cyber attack is not only damaging information systems and disrupting public services but also destroying data, including leaking personal data which has the potential to cause political chaos and public distrust in the conduct and results of elections," said Puadi.

M JULNIS FIRMANSYAH

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