Indonesia's National Cyber and Crypto Agency's new head will focus on data protection

Nugroho Sulistyo Budi has taken up his new post as Head of the National Cyber and Crypto Agency (BSSN), replacing Hinsa Siburian who is retiring.  

The former army officer was sworn in by President Prabowo Subianto at the State Palace on Wednesday, January 19. 

After being appointed, Nugroho outlined President Prabowo Subianto's two main instructions to BSSN: to protect cyberspace from data leaks and maintain the confidentiality of sensitive data.   

With cyber threats becoming increasingly complex, Nugroho emphasised that it is important for BSSN to adopt a shared responsibility approach. BSSN’s strategy is to strengthen national cybersecurity, concurrently raising awareness of government agencies and the public to become more aware of security protocols.   

"When we talk about cybersecurity and data protection, it is not about systems and hardware, but awareness, care and security behaviour," Nugroho said.

"If we neglect security, both from the state apparatus and society, then we are easily exposed to phishing and hacking," he continued. 

The lack of compliance with security protocols is a key challenge that needs to be resolved. As GovInsider previously reported, the negligence in implementing security protocols is suspected to be the cause of the cyberattack that crippled the Temporary National Data Centre (PDN) some time ago.  

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Secure data to support development 

The next instruction for BSSN is to maintain the security of the National Socio-Economic Single Data (DTSEN), which will be used as the basis for the government in drafting social assistance and economic recovery policies.

"Our task is to oversee the security, confidentiality and integrity of the data so that it can be truly used for development purposes,” said Nugroho.

Nugroho stated that his agency will be actively involved in cross-ministerial efforts to deal with the rampant hacking of government websites. BSSN will also co-operate with the Ministry of Communications and Digital and various cross-border agencies to tackle online gambling.   

Regarding cooperation with local governments, BSSN has established government cyber incident response teams (CSIRT) in 264 cities and regencies across Indonesia. This effort aims to increase the capacity of local governments to detect, prevent and handle situations when incidents occur.  

Nugroho Sulistyo Budi is a retired three-star general with experience in intelligence. He served as Director of Mass Communications at Indonesia's National Intelligence Agency (BIN), Chief Inspector of BIN, and Expert Staff to the Minister of Defence for Political Affairs.