Indonesian military's new cyber force is timely, but will it strain resources?

Funding and staffing issues, overlap with national cyber body among the concerns

- Hariz Baharudin

JAKARTA – Indonesia is strengthening its digital defences by establishing a new cyber force, Angkatan Siber, which will become the fourth branch of the military, alongside the army, navy and air force.

Details about the initiative, backed by President Joko Widodo and President-elect Prabowo Subianto, were disclosed on Sept 23, when Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Hadi Tjahjanto explained the need for the unit.

“Cyber warfare requires strategies to counter proxy wars, asymmetric conflicts and propaganda battles,” said Mr Hadi during a parliamentary session.

While the move underscores the increasing importance of digital security, analysts raised concerns about funding and resources, especially given the existence of the current cyber-security agency in Indonesia.

RIGHT TIME

The decision to establish the new unit comes in response to a series of high-profile cyber attacks.

Indonesia was hit by the worst cyber attack in recent memory in late June, when a data breach crippled immigration services for days, forcing officers to manually record the details of travellers as hours-long queues formed at entry points.

Another case that grabbed national headlines was when six million Indonesian taxpayer identification numbers - including that of Mr Widodo, his family and his ministers - were listed for sale on the dark web in mid-September.

There were other data breaches in 2023, including one in May of that year when a hacker group reportedly stole the personal particulars of more than 15 million customers and staff of Bank Syariah Indonesia, the country's largest Islamic bank.

All these incidents have catalysed the need for a cyber force in the military, Mr Edbert Gani Suryahudaya, a researcher at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), told The Straits Times.