Apart From Money, Data Is Now The Most Valuable Commodity For Hackers

JAKARTA - In addition to the financial sector which is often targeted by cyber attacks because of its great potential for ransom, data is now also the most valuable commodity, especially in the current digital era.

According to Kaspersky, hacker groups (hackers) or often called bad actors tend to target institutions that are considered capable of paying if their systems are successfully breached.

"So, they (bad actors) will be interested in institutions that have the ability to pay. So, that's exactly what happened," said Kaspersky Country Manager, Indonesia, Defri Nofitra on Tuesday, August 19.

He mentioned that the government and financial sectors are the main targets of cyber attacks in Indonesia. Especially in the government sector, hackers are not just ransom, but data.

Population data, sensitive documents, and administrative records are considered to have very high strategic value. Because according to Defri, data is considered a new gold that is valuable in today's digital era.

"Usually what they will target are the most valuable items, in the data. The most valuable thing in the world is data, right. Data is the new gold, the data they are after," he explained.

This condition confirms that cyber attacks are not only technical threats, but also economic and geopolitical threats. Leaked data can be traded, used for manipulation, or used as leverage in ransom negotiations.

Therefore, organizations in both the public and private sectors are encouraged to strengthen the defense system, including setting up reliable backup data.

"If he doesn't have backup, he doesn't have data anymore, right. That's why he (the organization) had to negotiate with the bad actor earlier," he concluded.