The Ministry of Communication and Information (Kemenkominfo) is currently conducting further studies on applications that may invite malware. The National Police's Cyber Crime Directorate (Bareskrim Polri) has discovered three applications that are often downloaded but are exploited by hackers. The term "malware" refers to a program designed to cause damage by infiltrating computer systems. The Director General of Public Information and Communication (IKP) at Kemenkominfo, Usman Kansong, stated that if violations are found, the perpetrators will be subject to punishment according to existing regulations.

"There is the Electronic Information and Transactions Law (ITE), the Personal Data Protection Law (PDP), Government Regulation No. 71/2019 on the Organization of Electronic Systems and Transactions, Minister of Communication and Information Regulation 5/2020 on the Organization of Electronic Systems within the Private Scope. We will see which regulations are applicable if there are violations," said Usman to Bisnis on Wednesday (23/11/2023).

Previously, the Cyber Crime Directorate of Bareskrim Polri revealed the existence of several dangerous applications connected to hackers. These applications include iRecorder, which has been downloaded 50,000 times, Beauty Slimming Photo Editor with 620,000 downloads, and Black Box Master Diamond with 35 million downloads.

In this regard, Usman urged the public to be cautious when downloading new applications. "The public should take this as a warning to be careful when downloading these applications," said Usman. Previously, there was a similar case where Bareskrim Polri found 11 dangerous applications that could access personal data.

After Kemenkominfo completes its evaluation of these applications, the government requests the concerned applications to remove features that pose a threat. At that time, Kemenkominfo will only give three days for the applications to fix their systems. If there is no change within that period, Kemenkominfo will decide to block access to the applications.