'WannaCry' Ransomware Attack Is a Form of Cybercrime: Minister
Jakarta. Communications Minister Rudiantara said in a press conference on Sunday (14/05) that the Indonesian government considers the ransomware cyber-attack that has hit government institutions and the private sector across the globe as a form of cybercrime.
"[The attack] has hit everyone all over the globe. In Indonesia, health service providers are being targeted," Rudiantara said.
The director general of applied information technology at the ministry, Samuel A. Pangerapan, said the cyber-attack can be considered as a form of cyberterrorism since it has been widespread and massive, and has targeted critical resources.
"The public should remain calm and exercise more caution when they go online," Samuel said.
The "WannaCry" ransomware locked and encrypted data on at least 400 computers at the Dharmais Cancer Hospital in Jakarta on Saturday, with the cyber-extortionists demanding ransom to restore the data.
However, Rudiantara said not all of the hospital's computer operating systems were affected.
"Computers using the older versions of Windows [operating system] have been hit, those from 2008 or before that. If you use updated Windows or Mac [operating system], you won't get hit," he said.
The ransomware started spreading all over the world last Thursday, locking its target's computers and encrypted all the data in it, before extortionists demand ransom to restore them.
Rudiantara ordered government and private organizations, especially ministries and state institutions, to form an incident security response team to secure their network.
The minister advised companies to disconnect their computers from the internet and back up all important data to external storages or other computers using the Linux or Mac OS operating systems.
Watch Indonesia Highlights at 8 p.m. tonight on the Jakarta Globe News Channel for more.
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