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Cyberattacks increasingly frequent, targeting critical groups in 2021: SAFEnet
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Indonesia saw an increase in cyberattacks in 2021, with 193 reports of attacks recorded by the Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network (SAFEnet) in its latest report. (Reuters/Kacper Pempel)
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yberattacks in Indonesia were on the rise last year and increasingly targeted select groups such as activists, students, journalists and individuals, indicating alarming efforts to weaken civil society and curb critical opinions, a Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network (SAFEnet) report revealed.
As many as 193 digital attacks were recorded by SAFEnet in 2021, an increase of 38 percent from 147 attacks in 2020, according to SAFEnet. These attacks include hacking, data extraction, phishing, impersonation and doxing.
Most attacks took place in September, with 34 attacks reported that month, followed by 26 cyberattacks reported on May. According to SAFEnet, activists were frequently attacked last year, with 50 incidents reported, followed by individuals (34 incidents), students (27 incidents) and journalists (25 incidents).
SAFEnet executive director Damar Juniarto said the increased frequency of attacks in certain months “cannot be separated” from the national political situation in those months, pointing out the links between the frequency of the attacks and the ongoing public discourse at the time, namely the controversial civic knowledge test that was taken by the independent Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) workers as part of their transition to civil servant status.
He went on to say that, in addition to the increase in frequency, cyberattacks in Indonesia had become increasingly political as they targeted select groups known to be critical of the government.
"Based on the data that we collected, digital attacks in Indonesia are becoming increasingly political, as a high number of attacks targeted critical groups, such as civil society organizations, activists, journalists and students. More than half of the attacks are targeted at them," Damar said in a webinar on Wednesday.
Hacking, referring to any attempt to control or access digital assets owned by the target of the cyberattack, were the most common form of digital attack, accounting for 70 percent of the attacks in 2021. This was followed by doxing, which accounted for 12 percent of the cyberattacks in SAFEnet’s report.
