KPU hacker case a first for police

KPU hacker case a first for police

Evi Mariani, Jakarta

The Jakarta Police cyber crimes division admitted on Wednesday
that the investigation into the suspected hacker of the General
Elections Committee (KPU) website, Dani Firmansyah, was an
unprecedented challenge for the country's legal system.

"This is the first time we are charging a suspect under
Article 22 of Law No. 39/1999 on telecommunications," cyber
crimes chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Petrus Reinhard Golose said on
Wednesday.

"If we can settle the case quickly, hopefully we can be
omitted from the list of countries banned from international
information technology," he added.

Dani, a final year student at the School of International
Relations at University of Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta, was arrested
on April 22 for hacking the KPU website and changing political
parties' names into parodies.

He faces a maximum six-year imprisonment for illegally
accessing and manipulating a telecommunications network or
telecommunications services.

"He is being detained at city police headquarters, separate
from petty criminals. Of course, we aren't giving him any access
to the Internet," Petrus said.

Admitting to the suspect's adroitness in Information
Technology (IT), he said Dani would be asked to help build a
security system for the cyber crimes' website, which will be
launched soon.

"The suspect told investigators that he wouldn't mind helping
the KPU IT team to improve its web security which, according to
him, is weak," Petrus said, chuckling.

Telecommunications expert Roy Suryo told The Jakarta Post via
SMS (short messaging service) that it would be better for Dani if
he was sentenced to community service and provided his expertise
for the government or the police.

"Dani Firmansyah can be a good security systems expert. I have
noticed he wrote some good articles on the Internet, such as
Cross-Site Scripting Disaster for Hotmail and Passport.net and
Turning Off the Registration Function in MIRC 6.03," he said.

The sentence might be unpopular in Indonesia, but it is the
best solution for all, he added.

Petrus said some hackers had attacked websites of several
major companies, such as state oil company Pertamina, demanding
Dani's release.

He also called on lawmakers to pass the bill on electronic
transactions immediately, so that "the court will recognize
digital evidence in telecommunications cases".