VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Ministry of Communication and Informatics (Kominfo) currently continues to trace the reason behind the alleged hacking of a database containing information of the country's COVID-19 patients that was circulated in cyberspace recently.

"The COVID-19 database and evaluation results of the Kominfo data center are safe," Minister of Communication and Informatics Johnny G. Plate noted via a text message on Saturday.

The ministry is currently in the process of tracking information on the alleged data breach and coordinating with the National Cyber and Crypto Agency (BSSN) in charge of COVID-19 data security in Indonesia.

Furthermore, the ministry is coordinating to conduct an evaluation of data centers in other ministries and institutions.

A hacker called Database Shopping sold a database of COVID-19 patients in Indonesia, dated June 18, to a dark web hacking forum, RaidForums.

The hackers claims the data was obtained during a data breach on May 20.

The spoiler feature on the dark web shows seized data, including the user ID, gender, age, telephone number, residence address, and patient status.

The hacker allegedly has 230 thousand users’ data in MySQL format uploaded on the dark web.

In May, a hacker on the dark web sold data of Tokopedia trading platform’s users.

Tokopedia confirmed an attempt to hack their security defenses, though the user data was confirmed to be safe.

In the meantime, in early May this year, the Tokopedia e-commerce platform identified the data leak. A hacker claimed responsibility for the leak and later contended to hold data comprising names, email addresses, and hashed passwords of 15 million Tokopedia users.

The estimated number of affected users was greater, reaching almost 91 million.

"On May 2, 2020, we became aware of the data theft of Tokopedia’s user information by an unauthorized third party," William Tanuwijaya, the Tokopedia CEO, noted in a statement on May 13.

Shortly after learning about the breach, Tokopedia notified users while launching an investigation and ensured that the accounts and transactions on the platform remained safe, according to Tanuwijaya.

"We continue to ensure that passwords are encrypted through a one-way encryption process," Tanuwijaya stated.

The online shop company also collaborated with the Ministry of Communication and Informatics and National Cyber and Crypto Agency to investigate the case, he revealed.

The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy began livestreaming an event called "Socialization Toward a New Normal in the Tourism and Creative Economy Sector" through YouTube on Saturday and will continue on Sunday.

Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Wishnutama Kusubandio noted in a statement received here, Saturday, that the current conditions necessitate all parties to adapt while staying optimistic that the COVID-19 pandemic would be overcome by continuing to implement a disciplined health protocol.

"All levels of the public and stakeholders are expected to implement health protocols with full responsibility and discipline in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and avoid the threat of a second wave of the disease," the minister stated.

The event, initiated by the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, with support from the DKI Jakarta Tourism and Creative Economy Office, also bore the spirit of welcoming the 493th Anniversary of Jakarta and aimed at disseminating information of the new normal that stressed on practicing and applying concepts focusing on cleanliness, health, and safety in the tourism and creative economy sectors.

The public's disciplined approach to adhere to health protocols, including maintaining a safe required distance between one another, washing hands, and using masks while venturing outdoors, is expected help re-instill a sense of confidence among foreign tourists to visit the country.

"This certainly can build the image of Indonesia as a country that is ready to transition to a new normal era, which is very influential in the efforts to build global trust in the country," he stated.

Various partners, including Grand Indonesia Mall, BRI Bank, and PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia, partook in the event. Furthermore, representatives from e-commerce platforms Blibli, Bukalapak, JD.id, Lazada, Shopee and Tokopedia; transportation companies comprising Blue Bird, Gojek, and Grab; tourism industry players, including the Accor Group, Ancol, the Thousand Islands, and Taman Mini Indonesia Indah, as well as the KontrakHukum, took part in the event.

Apart from being enlivened through the official digital media channel, an exhibition showcasing products of micro, small, and medium businesses was also held at the Grand Indonesia Mall.

The ministry cooperated with partners' platforms for online integration to limit the number of people to prevent crowding though yet targeting to grab the attention of the public en masse.

The Indonesian Government aims to implement suitable and quickly executed economic recovery programs.

“This is so due to the pace of economic growth in our country which cannot be corrected any deeper. We know that in the first quarter our economy was only able to grow 2.97 percent,” President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said at the limited meeting on the National Economic Recovery Program and the 2020 State Budget Posture Revision, at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, Wednesday (3/6).

Furthermore, the President said that in the second, third, and fourth quarters, the Government must be able to hold back the rate of economic growth so that it does not plummet deeper. The President also expect the possibility of a rebound.

“Therefore, I instruct all economic recovery program schemes that have been designed such as interest subsidies for MSMEs, fund allocation for banks affected by restructuring, guarantees for working capital loans, State Capital Inclusion (PMN) for SOEs, and government investment for working capital, to be quickly executed.” the President stated. (setkab.go.id)

Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Wishnutama Kusubandio, has stated that his office is preparing new operational procedures for the tourism sector for implementing the new normal, which will be simulated before it is enforced.

After a limited meeting, led by President Joko Widodo on ensuring productivity and safety in the tourism sector under the new normal, in Jakarta on Thursday, the minister said his office is currently preparing stages of opening the tourism sector ahead of the implementation of the new normal.

"The stages would have to be passed by tourism destinations, given that (efforts to check the spread of) COVID-19 have become better with various parameters prepared, until these stages are carried out," he informed.

He added that the standard operational procedures in the tourism sector would be prepared for a number of facilities, for example, hotels, restaurants, and tourist destinations, including various supporting facilities.

Before their implementation, he continued, a simulation of the procedures will be carried out. "After the simulation, we will disseminate information on the procedures, and then we will enter a trial period," he continued.

At the initial stage, however, he plans to prioritize regions or tourist destinations that are truly ready.

"Of course, we will prioritize regions that are ready because regional readiness is important and (we) have coordinated with regional heads who have been ready for this stage," he said.

President Joko Widodo has specifically requested that a new standard for Indonesian tourism be prepared, as the future global tourism trend looks set to change as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The President has also directed that the Indonesian tourism sector first focus on attracting domestic tourists, along with the implementation of strict health protocols. (ANTARA)