Indonesia refused to pay hackers $8M ransom.

Did Indoneisa did the right thing?

That is what bravery means.

Standing up to what you believe.

But was it a wise move with so much at stake?

Indonesia’s recent ransomware attack on its national data center has become a focal point of criticism and concern.

The attack, carried out by the Russian ransomware group LockBit, has severely disrupted over 200 government agencies, including crucial services like immigration and licensing.

Despite the severity of the situation, the Indonesian government has firmly refused to pay the $8 million ransom demanded by the hackers.

The fallout from this attack has been significant.

Pay or get locked out of your own information. Scary.

Minister of Communication and Informatics, Budi Arie Setiadi, has faced mounting public pressure to resign, with over 18,500 people signing a petition calling for his departure.

The criticism is not unfounded; the Ministry’s failure to back up 98% of the data stored in the compromised center has led to the loss of critical information, including data from 800,000 prospective students.