BSSN Calls Ransomware Attacks The Main Threat In The 2024 Pilkada

JAKARTA - Head of the National Cyber and Crypto Agency (BSSN), Hinsa Siburian, said that ransomware attacks were still the main threat in the 2024 simultaneous regional elections.

"Pilkada, as we have experienced several times, is mainly the threat of ransomware," Hinsa told reporters, Friday, November 8, 2024.

Hinsa explained that ransomware attacks with various forms could have an impact on the country's cyber defense. He said ransomware can not only steal or eliminate data.

"He can take down or he can steal data. And also the most important thing is that sometimes he takes hostage and defacement, the web defacement looks like it's changing," he said.

As is known, on Thursday, June 20, a number of public services had experienced problems due to disturbances in PDNS 2. One of the services that was heavily affected was the Autogate system belonging to the Directorate General of Immigration which disrupted community mobility.

After being traced, it was found that PDNS 2 experienced a cyberattack in the form of a ransomware called Brain Cipher, a new variant of the Lockbit 3.0 ransomware. The PDN server affected by the ransomware is in Surabaya.

"This temporary data center incident is a cyberattack in the form of ransomware under the name brain cipher ransomware. This ransomware is the latest development of the ransomware lock bit 3.0," Hinsa said at the Office of the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology on Monday, June 24.

"The one who experienced this incident was the temporary data center in Surabaya," he added.