The Communication and Informatics Ministry has urged cellular operators and the Home Affairs Ministry to further investigate allegations regarding the leaking of data of over a billion registered Indonesian SIM card users.
“Earlier, we agreed to conduct further investigation; the National Cyber and Crypto Agency will assist the Directorate General of Population and Civil Registration of the Home Affairs Ministry and operators to conduct a deeper investigation,” Director General of Applications and Informatics at the ministry Semuel Abrijani Pangerapan said in Jakarta on Monday.
The Cyber Crime Unit of the National Police will follow up on the results of the investigation, he added.
He said that on Monday morning, his administration hosted a meeting with cellular operators, the Directorate General of Civil Registration of the Home Affairs Ministry, National Cyber and Crypto Agency, Cyber Crime Unit of the National Police, and Directorate General of Post and Information Technology of the Communications and Information Ministry, which supervise cellular operators.
The meeting concluded that the sample data of the registered SIM cards that were suspected of being leaked were not the same, but there was an average similarity of 15 to 20 percent, he added.
The ministry has given time to the stakeholders to re-check the details and conduct a further search so that the source of the alleged data leak can be identified.
“We, from the Communication and Information Ministry, have urged (them) to immediately do it and report back to us so that it can be mitigated. And if there is a leak, the public will immediately be notified of who are affected,” Pangerapan said.
Recently, news of the alleged leak of data of 1.3 billion registered Indonesian SIM card users had spread via social media. The data was reportedly sold on the Breach Forum site for US$50 thousand by a user named Bjorka.
On August 31, 2022, a screenshot posted on Twitter showed that Bjorka claimed to have obtained the data of 1,304,401,300 registered SIM card users, including their population identification number, telephone number, name of the cellular operator, and registration date. Bjorka also claimed to have shared two million sample data for free.
“Sometimes, the hacker doesn’t provide complete data (sample data). So, we want to find out so that we know where and whose data was leaked, as well as how we can mitigate and secure it,” Pangerapan informed.
He emphasized that the ministry and its stakeholders are committed to addressing the alleged leak of SIM card data. He also reminded cellular operators and electronic system operators to promptly check if there was an indication of data leakage.
“Every provider must have the ability to mitigate and (implement) security (measures), maintain confidentiality, mitigate the risk if it (data) leaks, (know) what should not be put together—this is what the organizers need to always do,” he added.
Source: Antara News