Bamsoet Urges Criminal Law Reform to Combat AI-Based Crime

House of Representatives member Bambang Soesatyo (Bamsoet) has emphasised that the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has fundamentally altered the pattern of cybercrime globally. If previously cyber attacks were dominated by highly skilled hackers, AI now allows perpetrators to launch attacks that are faster, cheaper, more massive, and increasingly difficult to detect. From the automatic creation of malware and highly convincing phishing to voice cloning and deepfake videos, these have evolved into real threats to national security, economic stability, and the protection of citizens’ personal data. Various reports indicate an alarming escalation of threats. The National Cyber and Crypto Agency (BSSN) recorded 5.5 billion cyber attacks in Indonesia throughout 2025, with the majority of anomalies dominated by malware, phishing, and AI exploitation. Meanwhile, INTERPOL’s 2025/2026 Asia and South Pacific Cyberthreat Assessment noted that more than half of the countries in the Asia-Pacific region reported cybercrime, accounting for over 30 percent of all nationally recorded crimes. Throughout 2024, more than 6.5 billion cyber threats were detected and mitigated in the region. Approximately 80 percent of data breaches originated from system intrusions, while malware was found in 83 percent of cases and ransomware in 51 percent. These conditions demand that Indonesia accelerate legal reform to keep pace with technological developments. ‘We are facing a new era of borderless cybercrime. AI enables perpetrators to map targets, search for security gaps, create thousands of highly personalised fraudulent messages, and run attacks automatically within minutes. The state must not allow technological developments to outpace its ability to protect the public,’ Bamsoet asserted on Thursday (16/7/2026). He made the statement while serving as an examiner for a doctoral candidate at the University of Borobudur, whose dissertation focused on legal construction regarding responsibility and international jurisdiction for AI-based crimes. Bamsoet explained that AI is a dual-use technology; it can be used to boost productivity, public services, research, education, health, and economic growth, but can also be misused as a criminal instrument. Currently, criminal groups are using AI to create thousands of phishing emails in minutes, clone voices with just a few seconds of recording, and produce deepfake videos that are nearly indistinguishable from genuine footage. This makes the public increasingly vulnerable to digital fraud. Data from the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs revealed that deepfake attacks surged by approximately 1,400 percent from 2024 to 2025, while the success rate of AI-based phishing is estimated to be between 54 and 60 percent. In the financial sector, various reports have also recorded a spike in the misuse of AI for identity fraud, voice impersonation, and video manipulation. The Indonesia Anti-Scam Centre (IASC) together with the Financial Services Authority (OJK) noted that public losses due to digital fraud had exceeded IDR 2.6 trillion by mid-2025. ‘We are no longer dealing with conventional cybercrime. AI has become a new weapon for transnational criminal groups. They can run automated attacks 24 hours a day, search for security vulnerabilities, study defence patterns, and even independently refine their attack methods. This is a challenge for Indonesia’s law enforcement system,’ he said. Bamsoet further explained that the threat of AI extends beyond data theft or online fraud. Vital infrastructure such as banking systems, hospitals, power grids, transportation, government data centres, and public services are all potential targets for AI-based cyber attacks. International studies warn that generative AI technology is now being used to produce more adaptive malware, conduct personalised social engineering, and accelerate the exploitation of security gaps in a much shorter time than conventional methods. ‘The problem we face is not merely the increasing number of attacks, but the changing quality of the threats. AI helps criminals learn from failures, automatically adjust attack strategies, and even evade detection systems currently used by authorities and digital service providers,’ he explained. Bamsoet added that Indonesia’s biggest challenge is not just the volume of cyber attacks, but the suboptimal readiness of regulations to deal with AI. The national criminal law system still relies on human perpetrators, whereas AI can now carry out certain processes autonomously. This creates new problems regarding criminal liability when AI is used to commit crimes. The question of who should be held responsible, whether the developer, user, corporation, or another party, requires legal certainty to prevent a vacuum in law enforcement. ‘Indonesia needs legal reform capable of responding to the development of AI-based crime,’ he concluded.