One of the needed reserve components is educated staff or human resources in the field of cyber security.
Semarang, Central Java (ANTARA) - Cyber security should become a priority on the agenda of the Indonesian Government while entering the Internet of things (IoT)-based Industry 4.0 era, according to Dr. Pratama Persadha, academician of the University of Gadjah Mada (UGM).

"Cyber security is a priority issue in the current digital era," Persadha, former acting director of signal security of the National Cyber and Crypto Agency (BSSN), told Antara here on Wednesday, commenting on a statement made by Defense Minister, Prabowo Subianto, earlier.

In a hearing with the Commission I of the House of Representatives (DPR) in Jakarta on Monday, Subianto said the Defense Ministry together with the Education and Culture Ministry will prepare human resources as reserve components.

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The presence of defense reserve components (civilians) is needed to support the main component (military/TNI) or other components.

"One of the needed reserve components is educated staff or human resources in the field of cyber security," said the chairman of the Communication and Information System Security Research Center (CISSReC).

Nowadays, war is not only physical contact using a conventional weapon, but it has developed into a cyber war based on communication and information technology.

A survey by Roberts Walters in April 2019 showed that globally and domestically, there is a wide gap between cyber defense human resource demands and preparedness, both for the government institutions and the private sector. The survey saw the participation of 400 people in Southeast Asia, revealing a global technology talent crisis. The difficulty level of finding technical talent is at number 7 on a scale of 1 to 10.

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The military reserve component from among civilians initiated by Subianto to be implemented in cooperation with Education and Culture Minister, Nadiem Makarim, is expected to minimize the gap between the demand and preparedness of cyber security human resources in Indonesia.

In addition to strengthening the Indonesian cyber security, the educated reserve component is also expected to help develop the national defense industry, particularly in IT security.

Indonesia has so far depended on foreign information technology. Indonesia must develop its IT security industry to be able to become an independent and sovereign nation in information and communication security.

For the purpose, the Defense Ministry must also establish cooperation with the Communication and Informatics Ministry that has developed a Digital Talent program aimed at improving the skills and competitiveness of Indonesia's human resources in the field of communication and information technology.

"The Communication and Informatics Ministry has offered 25 thousand scholarships under the Digital Talent Program in 2019," he noted.

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Translator: DDJ Kliwantoro, Fardah
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2019