Jokowi Orders Backup of National Data in Wake of PDN Hacking Case

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko Widodo or Jokowi stated that the government had evaluated the hacking of the National Data Center (PDN). To prevent similar incidents from happening in the future, Jokowi asked institutions/ministries to provide backups of national data.

When asked, Jokowi did not specify the form of evaluation in question. The head of state said that the most important thing is to find a solution so that the hacking does not happen again.

"All of our national data must be secured so that we are not blindsided when something like this happens. And this also happens in other countries, not only in Indonesia," Jokowi said after inaugurating the South Korean Battery and Electric Vehicle Ecosystem in West Karawang Regency, West Java Province, on Wednesday, July 3.

The PDN, which is managed by the Ministry of Communication and Information and the National Cyber and Crypto Agency (BSSN), was hacked by LockBit 3.0 ransomware on June 20, 2024. Ransomware is a term for a type of malware that attacks data systems. The Temporary National Data Center in Surabaya manages data from 73 ministries and institutions, as well as hundreds belonging to regional governments.

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Hadi Tjahjanto followed up on Jokowi's instructions in a meeting on Friday, June 28, by holding a ministerial-level meeting three days later. The July 1 meeting at his ministry's office was attended by Communications and Information Minister Budi Arie Setiadi, BSSN chief Hinsa Siburian, and representatives from the Ministry of Home Affairs, the SOE Ministry, as well as the TNI and the National Police.

In a statement after the meeting, Hadi said the government would prepare regulations on the placement of data and reserves in layers according to the level of data classification, starting with strategic data, limited data, and open data.

"Later, we will have general or open data, such as statistics and so on, stored in clouds so that the PDN is not flooded with data," Hadi said.

Hadi said the government's goal is to have PDN operations back to normal by July 2024. Currently, he said, all government services that use PDNS 2 are in the process of being restored. Backup data from servers at PDNS 2 Surabaya will be fully located at PDN in Batam.

"In terms of operations, the National Data Center is currently up and running. There are interruptions, but we have a backup, namely at the DRC or hotsite in Batam and can autogate interactive service and each data center owner also has a backup, so there are at least three to four layers of backup, he said.

DANIEL A. FAJRI

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