Hacker’s Paradise or Host Nation? Indonesian Officials Weigh Cyber Threat

Shariah Police raid an Internet cafe in Banda Aceh in this file photo. (AFP Photo)

Jakarta Globe – Indonesia’s meteoric rise to become the world’s largest source of cyber attacks has raised concerns over diplomacy and online security in one of the world’s fastest-growing Internet markets.

“We have… concerns,” said Gatot Dewa Broto, spokesman for the Ministry of Communication and Information. “Almost every day Indonesia gets 1,225,000 attacks coming not from outside, but from inside Indonesia.”

Indonesia’s rise to surpass China as the leading root of online attacks has startled observers. One year ago the nation was a relative unknown, responsible for only 0.7 percent of recorded attacks. Six months later Indonesia sprinted past China as the leading source of cyber attacks, according to a report by the US-based Akamai Technologies.

It is now responsible for 38 percent of the world’s malicious traffic.

The reasons behind the growth are under debate, but the implications of a dramatic increase in online attacks have some officials worried.

“There are some [signs] that in the future the hacking is going to be higher,” Ministry of Defense spokesman Brig. Gen. Sisriadi Iskandar said. “It is [currently] very huge. I know from the Ministry of Communication and Information that last year… [the ministry] was attacked, like, 13 million times. I am not surprised.” [Click here for full article…]

Indonesia, U.S. seek trilateral cooperation with Myanmar

 

Global Post – Indonesia and the United States have been seeking trilateral cooperation with Myanmar, particularly in dealing with good governance, Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said Tuesday.

 

“As Indonesia gradually graduates in terms of its economic capacity and development, we find ourselves in the position now to partner other countries in mutually supporting one another’s development efforts, including in the area of democratization and promotion of good governance,” Natalegawa told reporters.

 

“These have been done with a number of countries bilaterally, but increasingly we are looking for innovative trilateral mechanisms with some countries…and one country that we have been looking at, that we have been working with, has been Myanmar,” he added. [Click here for full article…]

Russia Would ‘Welcome’ Indonesia in Syria Peace Talks: Putin

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, right, shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin after speaking during the APEC Leaders’ News Conference on the final day of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Nusa Dua on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on October 8, 2013 as country leaders and representatives look on. (EPA Photo)

AFP – Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Moscow would welcome Indonesia joining Syria peace talks scheduled to take place in Geneva later this year.

“We believe it is possible to expand the number of [conference] participants by including such big Muslim states like Indonesia,” Putin said on the sidelines of an APEC summit in Indonesia.

“In my opinion, it would be quite natural and we’d welcome it,” he was quoted as saying by state news agency ITAR-Tass. [Click here for full article…]

 

Indonesia eyes more jet fighters

UPI – Indonesia is aiming to create eight new squadrons of fighter aircraft by 2024 as part of military upgrade programs, the head of the air force said.

The Indonesian Defense Force also is set to train more pilots to cope with what could be more than 100 new jet fighters if each squadron has around 16 aircraft, the Jakarta Globe newspaper reported.

 

“We hope that by 2024 we will have eight squadrons of fighter aircraft,” Air Chief Marshal Ida Bagus Putu Dunia said.

 

He was speaking during a ceremony at the Sultan Hasanuddin Air Force Base in Makassar on Sulawesi Island in which the air force officially received six Russian-made Sukhoi SU-30MK2 fighter aircraft — the last of a contract for 16 Sukhoi aircraft signed in 2007.

 

The Jakarta Globe report said each squadron is expected to consist of 16 Sukhoi jets, although the newspaper didn’t quote Dunia specifying what the aircraft might be.

 

Ida said the Sukhoi jets were sophisticated fighter aircraft that offer a high deterrence and will strengthen the Indonesian air force.

 

The deal on the Sukhois that includes pilot training is for the air force’s Squadron 11 at Hasanuddin Air Base in Makassar.

 

“[We] have a sufficient number of pilots to operate them, but we also are preparing pilots for new fighter aircraft,” he said. [Click here for full article…]

Indonesia, US Deepen Defense Ties Amid Exercises and Arms Deals

Indonesian and Australian antiterror troops ‘take over’ a tanker ship Sept. 13 during a joint counterterrorism exercise at the Indonesia Peace and Security Center in Sentul, Bogor-West Java. (Agence France-Presse)

Defense News – US and Indonesian military ties are growing as evidenced by US participation in the recent US-Indonesian joint-funded Coun­terterrorism Exercise (CTX) held Sept. 5-13 at Indonesia’s peacekeeping forces training center in Sentul, West Java.

Participants included all special operations forces of the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations member countries, plus eight counterpart states: the US, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, China, India and Russia.

However, Indonesia’s best special operations force, the infamous Kopassus, was excluded from participating in the CTX due to past US complaints about human rights abuses by the unit during the 1999 East Timor crisis, in which civilians were murdered, kidnapped and tortured.

The Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) is implementing military modernization efforts, but excluding Kopassus remains a problem, experts say. The TNI suffered from the US arms embargo after the 1999 crisis. The Kopassus are the best trained and disciplined unit within TNI, and exclusion from training opportunities by the US will be difficult.

The US allowed the Kopassus to attend the CTX, but only as observers. The CTX was divided into several programs, including a tabletop exercise, practical exercise, discussions, information sharing and special simulation. [Click here for the full article…]

Marty Supports US Dialogue on Syria, Iran

 

Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa. (EPA Photo/Franck Robichon)

Jakarta Global – Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa responded positively to US President Barack Obama’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, saying the speech reflected the United States’ willingness to communicate with their Iranian counterpart despite ongoing tensions between the two countries.

 

“This is related to the management of Iran’s nuclear issues. Indonesia, as a country that upholds diplomacy and dialogue, welcomes signs of such an approach between the two countries,” Marty said in a press release after the General Assembly.

 

During the session, Marty said several heads of states and delegations also delivered their reflections on various international issues, including the conflicts in Syria and Palestine. [Click here for full article…]

Analysis: Illegal Activities Thriving on Weak Law Enforcement

Jakarta Globe – Weak law enforcement by the police has become one of the main reasons why militant groups, thugs and gangsters have dared to take the law in their own hands while at the same time illegal guns can circulate freely across the country, activists and analysts have said.

They said that such failure to take tough action, has led people to believe that the police have been condoning acts of violence and intolerance.

On Sunday, hundreds of people wearing white shirts and thawbs (traditional Muslim wardrobe), rallied in front of property where Saint Bernadet parishioners in Ciledug, South Tangerang plan to build a Catholic church.

It had taken 23 years for the Catholic community to be granted a permit to build.

They may have to wait another 23 years before services resume, after a group of hardline Muslim protesters shuttered the proposed site on Sunday before even a stone had been laid.

While threats to commit violence against the congregation members were made, police officers arrived late to the site. [Click here for full article…]

RI, US to hold talks on defense

Positive momentum: Indonesia’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (right) and US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel (left) pose for photographers prior to a meeting at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Aug.26. (Adek Berry/AFP/Getty Images)

Jakarta Post – The Indonesian Defense Ministry will host US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel for bilateral talks on defense.

Hagel is scheduled to start his two-day visit to Indonesia on Monday, with an honorary ceremony at the Defense Ministry at 1 p.m., followed by a joint press conference with Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro at 3:15 p.m.

“Four issues will be jointly discussed, including exchange of views between the two defense ministers on regional and global security issues,” said an official statement made available to The Jakarta Post on Monday.

It said the 2013 Counter Terrorism Exercise (CTX), in which Indonesia and the United States would co-host 18 participating countries, was the second issue listed for the talks.

The remaining two issues are the government’s plan to purchase a primary weapons defense system from the United States and capacity development of military personnel.

The ministry said the defense partnership between the two countries was at one of its strongest points ever, marked by “close cooperation based on mutual respect and mutual benefit principles”.

As an example of this, the ministry pointed to increased exchange of military personnel between the two nations. (ebf) [Click here for original source…]

Indonesia and South Korea to Build Fighter Aircraft

March 1, 2013

By UPI

Indonesia and South Korea are cooperating in building a joint fighter but politics are delaying progress.

The project will produce the KFX/IFX fighter, which is called a “4.5-generation” combatant aircraft, as opposed to the U.S. Lockheed Martin fifth-generation stealth Lightning-II F-35 fighter.

The KFX/IFX’ s fighter’s abilities are designed to be more advanced than the U.S.-built Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon jet aircraft. The KFX/IFX fighter jets will eventually be designated the F-33, with a capability slightly below the F-35.

However, the entire project will be slow off the mark, Indonesian Defense Ministry official Pos Hutabarat said.

“It will be postponed in 1 1/2 years because the recent transition of power in South Korea,” he said at a defense industry seminar in Jakarta. “The new president has just been inaugurated in that country. The new government needs more data to convince the Parliament.”

South Korea on Monday marked the inauguration of President Park Geun-hye.

Pos said the delay will push back collaboration on the project to June 2014.

He said the Indonesian government was contributing 20 percent of the aircraft development costs, with the rest coming from Seoul, China’s Xinhua news agency reported Thursday.

[Click here for full article…]

Police reform: What reform?

Fourteen years after being separated from the Indonesian Military (TNI), the National Police remains one of the few state institutions untouched by reform.

Integrity and transparency have increasingly become rare ideals within the police force after policy makers expanded its law enforcement mandate — a decision that aimed to end 35 years of military domination of security affairs.

National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo has regularly boasted of the progress in police reform and integrity since 2000, but without detailing any benchmark or outcome of the process.

The classic tales of extortion and kickbacks in dealing with the police have not even slightly abated.

Stories of a pervasive culture of kickbacks emanate from the earliest stages of recruitment and permeate the entire process until an officer receives his or her posting.

The force is literally a haven for practicing corruption.

[Click here for full article…]

Scholars, intellectuals endorse Prabowo’s bid

The Jakarta Globe – A group of university professors and intellectuals announced on Wednesday its collective endorsement of Gerindra Party presidential candidate and chief patron Prabowo Subianto, giving the retired army general another moral boost ahead of the upcoming presidential election. Former Bandung-based Padjadjaran University rector Yuyun Wirasasmita, who read the group’s endorsement during a gathering […]