In June 2024, Indonesia suffered from one of the worst cybersecurity attacks in years, which distributed immigration services and even airport operations. Following other countries’ actions, including China’s People’s Liberation Army Cyberspace Force, Germany’s Cyber and Information Domain Service, Norwegian Cyber Defense Force, and Singapore’s Digital and Intelligence Service, Indonesia has decided to move forward with a fourth military branch, the Cyber Force. The branch will work with the Indonesian Army, Navy, and Air Force. According to the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs, Hadi Tiahianto, the Cyber Force will be “…responsible for psychological operations, influencing minds to ensure we can succeed in this new form of warfare.” The cyber branch will also conduct daily cyber patrols with new implemented security measures. Cyber warfare is vital in order to effectively handle proxy wars, propaganda battles, and asymmetric conflicts.
President-elect Prabowo Subianto alongside current Indonesian President Joko Widodo are very supportive of the new branch and the president-elect will prioritize the cyber branch with his incoming Cabinet. Although the current and future Presidents are on board with the program, some critics argue that without proper funding, the Cyber Force will be ineffective to stop future cybersecurity attacks. Without adequate funding, only human resources will be present without the necessary technology. As such, consistent investing into the Cyber Force must be a priority for Indonesia or else the force will lag behind, leaving Indonesian information systems vulnerable. Indonesia may also consider investing in satellite systems to aid in the cyber defense initiative. An important consideration for the program is to focus on the investment of advanced equipment rather than in large personnel because little progress can be made if the service members lack the ability to evade attacks.
As cyber attacks become more and more common in today’s society, an argument could be made that all established countries should implement a cybersecurity force. With important top-secret data on computer files, although some encrypted with numerous provisions, the problem becomes how to know how advanced hacker’s technology is and what it can do in the future. Countries do not want to have reactionary responses to instances of confidential information leakages, so high investment into a Cyber Force for each country should soon become a must among advancements in military technology.
A question that I have for the future is how Southeast Asia will approach increasing threats of cybersecurity attacks: will they actually implement cyber forces, or are there other options previously not thought of before? And, as technology develops, will we see opposing countries hack into other countries’ sensitive files and implement viruses or corrupt all of their data before invading? Something to consider is how ASEAN will approach this problem (if it comes to that point). Perhaps the countries could come together and develop a centralized cyber force to protect each other, besides leaving the problem up to each country. As part of a global economy, countries should start to help others instead of having a strict inner focus on themselves. This creates trust between countries, which can then aid diplomatic relations.
Source: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/indonesia-cyber-force-military-4627456