JakartaPost-Jan 2, 2025
With the Indonesian Military (TNI) having identified improving cybersecurity as one of its top priorities this year, its chief Gen. Agus Subiyanto is considering recruiting civilians with expertise in information technology as soldiers, with a view for them to eventually joining the planned cyber force. Talks surrounding the formation of a cyber force as the fourth armed service have gained traction among politicians and lawmakers in recent years following a string of hacking incidents and ransomware attacks that have hit state institutions amid the country’s poor cybersecurity. But rights activists have been putting up stiff opposition, fearing that a cyber force could be wielded as a tool for state repression. Agus said recently that the TNI was looking to play its part in improving Indonesia’s cybersecurity by going on a recruitment drive for civilians with talent in the IT and digital fields. “Our military academy is there to prepare future commanders. But in other fields, such as cyber, I will specifically recruit cyber experts. These are civilians with established capabilities in cyber security that we will turn into soldiers,” Agus said during a TNI leadership meeting on Friday. He said that these civilians would be placed into a dedicated cyber unit in the TNI, and their main task would be to safeguard the country from cyber threats and to help the government in its implementation of cybersecurity programs. “Other countries already have [a cyber force] as a branch of their military. In our case, we have a cyber unit that we will be looking to optimize with the recruitment drive,” Agus added. Military expert Khairul Fahmi of the Institute for Security and Strategic Studies (ISESS) said the military must continually improve its cybersecurity capacity in light of the ever-evolving threats of hackers and ransomware. Read more at:
