There was an idea. The idea was to create a group of exceptional people, to see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to protect Indonesia from cyber battles that we never expected. To create Angkatan Siber TNI, so our people, our country’s data, and everything can be protected by all means in the surge of cyber threats in 2023.
When the governor of the National Resilience Insitute, Andi Widjajanto, suggested the idea of creating the 4th branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces with the task of protecting the country from cyber threats, a question arose, what is the urgency? In the sense that this biggest archipelago country in Southeast Asia already has an agency to handle this matter.
Satuan Siber Tentara Indonesia is a sub-branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces with the duty to carry out any cyber activities of the TNI (Indonesian National Armed Forces) matter. Although the core of Satuan Siber Tentara Indonesia is different from what Widjajanto has in mind, it still sounds not really effective to build another military branch dedicated to cyber threats, while the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology still exists.
Where does the idea come from?
The idea to build Angkatan Siber TNI comes after witnessing Indonesia’s neighboring country, Singapore, with its success in the Digital and Intelligence Service. The DIS’s mission is to be the country’s shield from cyber attacks and allow the Singapore Armed Forces to efficiently work to deal with threats. Not only that, but the DIS will also train, create, and teach Singaporeans to be capable of defending Singapore from cyber threats. Recently, on August 17, 69 graduates from DIS graduated and became Specialists and Military Experts of the Singapore Armed Forces.
Currently the Indonesian government, especially Prabowo Subianto as the Minister of Defense of Indonesia welcomed the idea positively and will look into it further. The Indonesian National Armed Forces said that the idea needs real scientific research to prove its necessity in Indonesia.
Do we really need this?
Kshetri, a professor from the University of North Carolina said that a low rate of hacking and cybercrime in a developing economic society could lead to a high rate of cybercrime later in the future, this is because the lack of cybercrime at the start will make many organizations become lack of preparation handling cyber threats, this will later decrease the already low cyber awareness. He also argued that a low-developing economic society will lead to unemployment and higher chances for people to commit cybercrime to gain more money.
With Kshetri’s argument in mind, it seems like a fourth branch in TNI dedicated solely to cyber threats is important. There are many cases of cyber attacks in Indonesia and with the thought as the fourth most populous country in the world, Indonesia is surely lacking in cyber defense.
Having a great and proper defense mechanism from cyber threats will polish Indonesia’s reputation as a country that is secure from cyber problems. In return, this will bring a higher chance of foreign investment that could lead to economic growth.
It is normal for technological advancement to grow faster than a country’s capacity to see its impact on political, social, and economic systems (Calderaro & Craig, 2020). The rapid growth of the internet has not only assisted people in their daily activities but also brought new threats that haunt the newly developed society. Indonesia is never too late to adapt to these changes by preparing its people against haunting cyber threats.
Read our other works:
• Strong Password: A Placebo or a Real Protector?
• Are We Experiencing Cybersecurity Expert Shortage?
• Which One Do You Need, VPN or DNS?
References:
• Calderaro, A., & Craig, A. J. (2020). Transnational governance of cybersecurity: policy challenges and global inequalities in cyber capacity building. Third World Quarterly, 41(6), 917-938.
• Kshetri, N. (2010). Diffusion and effects of cyber-crime in developing economies. Third World Quarterly, 31(7), 1057-1079.
