The Virtual World Prone To Cyber Crime, Personal Data Protection Laws Need To Be Confirmed Immediately

Press conference of the Indonesian House of Representatives Commission I Panja on July 1, 2021 regarding the discussion of the Plan for the Personal Data Protection Law which has not been agreed until now. (Parliament of DPR)

JAKARTA - In the past year, Indonesia's cyberspace has become more and more crowded. But the hustle and bustle of this virtual world have not been protected. In addition to socializing to being careful in surfing, the Indonesian government needs to prepare regulations that can protect the public in the internet world.

Currently, the tug-of-war between the government and the House of Representatives is still going on regarding the position of the supervisory agency for personal data protection. This has triggered the Personal Data Protection Bill (PDP), which the public wants, has yet to be completed by the House of Representatives.

The House of Representatives proposed that the institution be independent. However, the government wants the agency to be located under the Ministry of Communication and Information.

From We Are Social's data, it was noted that there was an increase of 1 percent of Indonesian virtual citizens in the past year, from 203 million people to 204.7 million people.

The increase in new internet users in Indonesia during this pandemic era is quite significant. Compared to January 2020 internet users are still under the range of 176 million people. There has been an increase of 16 percent in the last two years.

Kemenkominfo socialization regarding data theft through pre-employment cards. (Kemenkominfo)

The increase in Indonesian internet users was triggered by the limited need to socialize during the COVID-19 pandemic era. The limited interaction with the real world makes the virtual world a medium for socializing in the community. This causes almost 70 percent of virtual citizens to spend their time meeting friends and relatives via the internet.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the source of public entertainment has been the internet. McKinsey at the end of 2020 noted an increase in the desire of Indonesian cyber citizens by 13 percent, to consume products or services related to entertainment-seeking activities only at home.

Around 76 percent of Indonesian cyber citizens also agreed to stick to the habit of consuming goods and services until the COVID-19 pandemic ended.

Not Completely Safe

But unfortunately, the hustle and bustle of the Indonesian internet world are still haunted by the rise of cybercrime threats. The National Cyber and Crypto Agency (BSSN) noted that in 2021 there will be more than 90,000 criminal acts in the Indonesian Internet world. This cybercrime is not only a threat to individuals but also to institutions in various fields such as finance, trade, education, health, and even government.

In addition, the 2021 cyber security monitoring report issued by BSSN also detected 1.6 billion suspicious attempts to infect cyber security systems or internet traffic anomalies in Indonesia. That number has tripled compared to 2020. Working from home during the pandemic is suspected to be the cause of the high cases of hacking and data leaks.

According to the Deputy for Security Operations of the National Cyber and Crypto Agency (BSSN), Ferdinand Mahulette, as quoted from Antara, March 8, 2022, there were 5,574 hacking cases. The details involved 36.49 percent of educational sites, 25.1 percent involving private sites, and 18.23 percent involving local government sites.

"There are many things that we have to fix because many people are competing to carry out digital transformation, but on the other hand they ignore the security element", said Ferdinand.

An advisory was issued by the Ministry of Communication and Information regarding prudence in transactions on the internet. (Kemenkominfo)

Of all these cybercrimes, of the 84,000 cases recorded, data leaks were the most prominent. Next is the case that often occurs is the case of changing web pages (web defacement) with 5,490 cases.

Next is fraud or phishing attacks, which fall into the category of traditional digital crimes. Phishing attacks are the entrance for hackers to take over personal or work emails.

The high level of cybercrime, especially regarding data theft in the internet world, increasingly reminds the government of the importance of the government to immediately completing the rules. The Ministry of Communication and Information claims that there are at least 48 laws and regulations governing data protection.

Currently, 51 cases are being investigated. In all of that, cases of personal data protection breaches occur too often.

We all hope that the difference in opinion between the government and the House of Representatives, which ultimately places the public under the threat of cybercrimes, can be quickly removed. The PDP bill is expected to be passed soon this year. But the public also needs to increase literacy, and always be vigilant in exploring cyberspace so as not to fall into the trap of hackers.