Expert defends alleged hacker

Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

An expert witness testified on Tuesday for defendant Dani Firmansyah, saying that the 25-year-old had not violated the Telecommunications Law he was being charged with for hacking into the website of the General Elections Commission (KPU) in April.

Information technology expert I Made Wiryana of Gunadarma University told the Central Jakarta District Court that Dani's accessing the KPU's website database via an ordinary Internet browser could not be considered as manipulating a telecommunications network.

"In my opinion, the defendant just wanted to point out the flaws in the website's security system... Furthermore, even though the data was changed, there was no permanent damage to it, such as crashing the website operator's hard drive," said Wiryana, who is also a computer network researcher at Germany's Bielefeld University.

Dani has been charged under the Telecommunications Law for illegally accessing a telecommunications network and/or service and causing a physical or electromagnetic disturbance to a telecommunications service.

The law carries a maximum sentence of six years in prison and/or a fine of Rp 600 million.

Wiryana agreed with judges and prosecutors that the defendant's actions were ethically wrong, but noted that Indonesia had no code of conduct for the IT profession as of yet.

Presiding judge Hamdi adjourned the trial until Oct. 19 to hear the prosecution's sentence request.