Yogyakarta, 18 April 2019–After the 2019 General Election, the Center for Digital Society (CfDS) held a presentation to introduce the forms of cybersecurity threats that have occurred surrounding the general election. Despite the success of the 2019 General Election, various forms of cybersecurity threats still exist.
The General Election & Cybersecurity Threats
Numerous cases of cybersecurity threats before the general election included the spread of hoaxes. Notable examples such as the false information about the date of the general election and the defamation of the candidates have occurred in order to discourage or even prevent citizens from giving their vote. Meanwhile, hacking and data manipulation are the examples of cybersecurity threats during and after the general election.
Within the electoral process, Scott Shackelford stated that there are at least five areas that are prone for cyberattacks, which include the information that the voters will receive prior to the election, the data of the candidates, the machines used to vote, the mechanism to count the votes and the system that is used to spread the results of the election.
In Indonesia, cyberattacks have occurred as early as 2004, in which the website of the General Elections Commission of Indonesia (KPU) was hacked by a teen with the pseudonym of “Xnuxer.” General elections in various other states such as in Taiwan, France, the United States and Brazil have also been affected by cyberattacks, mainly hoaxes.
Mastel recorded that 92.4% of hoaxes were spread through social media, 62.8% through instant messaging applications, 34.9% through websites, 8.7% through television, 5% through printed media and 3.1% through e-mails. Hoaxes in social media take advantage of the cognitive bias that psychologically exists. Humans have a limited capacity in processing information, thus tend to prefer to choose sources of information that can easily be understood. This is the reason why some individuals are trapped within their own beliefs and imaginations.
Hoaxes & Cybersecurity
According to a data compiled by the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology of Indonesia, there were 1,224 cases of politically related hoaxes from August 2018 until March 2019. The existence of hoaxes shows that cybersecurity threats are not merely technical matters, but also concern with human factors and the process of information distribution.
Thus, CfDS has formulated 3 main principles in tackling cyber threats: citizens with digital literacy, preventive regulations and mechanisms that are adaptive, as well as capable cyber defence technology. To counter cybersecurity threats, a collaborative and progressive approach must be taken. Both the government and private sectors, as well as citizens, are all equally important in order to counter cyberattacks.