Kominfo Ministry Tests Decryption Key to Unlock Hacked Data Center

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian Ministry of Communication and Information (Kominfo) confirmed that it has attempted to use the decryption key provided by the Brain Cipher ransomware group to unlock access to the compromised Temporary National Data Center (PDNS).

“We've tested the key in the space room, and it successfully unlocked six data sets,” Director General of Informatics Applications, Semuel Abrijani Pangerapan, at the Kominfo Ministry Office in Jakarta on Thursday, July 4. 

Earlier, Semuel announced that he had submitted his resignation following the PDNS hack.

He is unsure if the single key will unlock all the encrypted data. According to him, the PDNS stores a vast amount of information, and the team initiated testing immediately upon receiving the key last night, and the process is ongoing.

“Our technical team is currently working [on decryption],” Semuel added. The exact volume of data encrypted by Brain Cipher remains unknown.

As previously reported, the Brain Cipher ransomware group kept its promise to deliver a decryption key for PDNS for free on Wednesday, July 3. The hacker group, believed to be located in Eastern Europe, announced the key's availability on the dark web. 

The announcement was reposted around 8:27 p.m. Jakarta time by a social media account @FalconFeedsio on platform X (formerly Twitter). The Brain Cipher ransomware group claimed to have released the key independently, without any influence from external parties, including the Indonesian government.

AFRON MANDALA PUTRA

Editor’s Choice: Jokowi Orders Backup of National Data in Wake of PDN Hacking Case

Click here to get the latest news updates from Tempo on Google News