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Cyberattacks bound to rise ahead of 2024 polls: SAFEnet
Digital attacks last year targeted at least 130 people, mostly activists, students and journalists, that had criticized the government, according to the latest SAFEnet report.
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'A job I love': One of the hackers interviewed, considered hacking a hobby that also makes him money (Unsplash/Joan Gamell) (Unsplash/Joan Gamell)
D
igital freedom of expression will suffer further in the lead-up to the 2024 general elections, one watchdog’s study on cyberattacks has predicted, as the nation enters a period of enhanced competition to capture the hearts and minds of internet-savvy Indonesian voters.
Particularly, the number of cyberattacks against critical voices is bound to be increase this year, according to the latest study by the Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network (SAFEnet).
The report found that digital attacks in the country had more than doubled over the past two years, from 147 discrete instances in 2020 to 302 last year, cementing a trend that had grown from the start of Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s second term.
The attacks targeted at least 130 people, mostly activists, students and journalists, that had criticized the government.
In September 2022, a wave of cyberattacks targeted the website of local media company Narasi TV and the social media accounts of their journalists and employees, including founder and seasoned journalist Najwa Shihab.
The incident occurred after the outlet published coverage of a senior National Police officer’s lavish attire at a one-off press conference on the murder plot involving former police internal affairs chief Ferdy Sambo.
Narasi filed a report with the police over the incident but, as of last month, had not received any information that the police were looking into it, according to local reports.
