Indonesia’s PT Telkom denies alleged cyber breach

An investigation is underway after state-owned Indonesian telecom firm PT Telkom was allegedly hit by a “personal data breach”.

In a statement, Semuel Abrijani Pangerapan, a senior communications ministry official, disclosed that the ministry had sent recommendations on data protection to Telkom and Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), Indonesia's state-owned electric power distributor after calling on the firms following the incident.

According to Reuters, a Telkom spokesperson denied the security incident, asserting that that there was "no breach" of IndiHome customers' data.

Local media has been reporting that PLN was investigating the alleged breach, after a slow response from a company spokesperson to requests for comment.

Indonesia has had a slew of alleged data breaches in recent years, including on its COVID-19 screening app which led to President Joko Widodo's vaccine records being shared widely on social media in September.

A data protection bill aiming to bolster the country's cyber security infrastructure was submitted to parliament in 2020 but has yet to be passed.