Indonesia’s Perludem website hacked to promote online gambling

The Association for Elections and Democracy’s website was hijacked to display ads for online gambling. 

Indonesia.- Khoirunnisa Nur Agustyati, executive director of the Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem) has reported that the organisation’s website was hacked to display ads for online gambling. Perludem is an independent non-profit body that carries out research and election monitoring.

In an interview with Tempo, Agustyati said the site was hacked on April 16, when malware was added to files causing online gambling ads to be displayed. The organisation’s technology department removed the infected files, but the system was compromised again on April 21, when a hacker changed the server access password and caused the site to show online gambling ads. The attack also affected email services for Perludem staff.

Agustyati said the website is now accessible again but is still owned by the hacker. Fadli Ramadhanil, Perludem’s programme manager, said that the information technology team has been trying to recover data by communicating with the server provider but had been unsuccessful so far.

Gambling in Indonesia is illegal for both citizens and foreigners. Earlier this month, the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), the country’s highest Islamic body, strongly criticised a proposal to legalise casinos as a means to boost state revenue. Cholil Nafis, leader of the council’s Da’wah and Brotherhood division, said the proposal went against social norms.

The legalisation of casinos was proposed by Galih Kartasasmita, a Golkar Party member of the House of Representatives (DPR RI), during a meeting with the Ministry of Finance’s budget office on May 12. Kartasasmita suggested that Indonesia could follow the United Arab Emirates’ model and establish casinos to generate additional non-tax revenue. He compared the economies of the countries, noting that both depend on natural resources to finance government spending.

The Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) says that more than 28,000 bank accounts in Indonesia were frozen by police in 2024 due to alleged links with online gambling. Director Ivan Yustiavandana said many were part of a scheme involving the buying and selling of accounts.

See also: Professor proposes legalising casinos in Indonesia for foreigners