Police begin search for KPU hackers

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Jakarta Police Special Crimes Division investigators have started their hunt for the hackers who attacked the General Elections Commission (KPU) web site.

"The investigation started last night (Saturday night) but so far we have yet to make any significant progress," Special Crimes Division head Sr. Comr. Edmon Ilyas said on Sunday.

Separately, the head of the KPU information technology team of experts Achiar Oemri said that he was gathering clues that might help track down those responsible for the embarrassing incident on Saturday.

"We have asked for help from the city police. We already have some clues as to who the hackers were, but I cannot reveal them yet," he told reporters.

His statement was denied by Edmon, who insisted that the police have yet to find any clues as to the hackers' identity.

"We haven't identified the suspects yet," he said. "It's not easy to find hackers in these sort of case, and we only began the investigation last night."

Hackers attacked the KPU website at http://tnp.kpu.go.id/Tabulasi/default.asp on Saturday at around 6:30 p.m. They changed the names of the parties into humorous ones such as the Green Clad Party for the United Democratic Nationhood Party (PPDK), Please Don't Be Angry Party for Indonesian Democratic Vanguard Party (PPDI), Please Fix the Web Site Party for the National Mandate Party (PAN) and Bottled Drinking Water Party for the Democratic Party.

KPU officials claimed that the incident did not disrupt the vote counting process as the hackers had not gained entry to the data center computer. They also said that web site had been repaired and was accessible to the public by 12 midday on Sunday.