Indonesian authorities have revealed the cause behind the recent outage of their electronic visa portal, affecting digital immigration systems across major airports, including Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport.
The disruption was caused by a severe cyberattack targeting the National Data Center server of Indonesia's Ministry of Information.
The attack was carried out by the ransomware known as Lockbit 3.0, which demanded a substantial ransom of $8 million USD.
Since the cyberattack began on June 20, 2024, it has significantly disrupted operations at PDN's Temporary National Data Center 2 in Surabaya.
Minister of Communication and Information, Budi Arya Setiadi, confirmed that the attack paralyzed key services, including immigration, prompting a swift response to restore functionality.
As of now, the immigration servers have been partially restored, but ongoing issues persist with the passport system.
Samuel Abrijani Pangerapan, General Director of Information Applications at the Ministry of Communication, assured that immigration services through automatic gates at Ngurah Rai Airport are gradually resuming. Additionally, measures such as manual checks are being implemented to maintain service reliability.
Silmi Karim, Director General of Indonesia's Immigration Service, described thorough efforts to transfer databases to secure servers following the attack.
LockBit 3.0, notorious for targeting global organizations for financial gain, has affected numerous governmental entities, underscoring the need for heightened cybersecurity measures.
The Indonesian government is actively collaborating with international cybersecurity agencies to investigate the incident and mitigate future risks.
Visitors to Bali are advised to stay updated on developments and potential impacts on immigration services.
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