Article Review One; An Analysis of Indonesian Cybercrime

Cybercrime is devastating, being able to destroy not only individuals and industries but entire societies. Though not a traditional type of assault, cyber-attacks can be just as dangerous as conventional warfare. “Identifying the Prevalence of Cybercrime in Indonesian Corporations: A Corporate Legislation Perspective”, written by Djoni Gojali, covers the struggles Indonesian businesses have with cybercrime, and how governmental legislation in its current form is unable to assist in prosecution. Cybersecurity and cybercrime are multifaceted, with social sciences having a large part in understanding both topics. Within Gojali’s writing, there are several principles utilized. For example, Gojali’s writing is very empirical. Empiricism as a principle means that data is well-founded. In his study, Gojali remains objective, backing up all claims with hard numbers and professional, unbiased opinions. The principle of relativism can also be identified in the piece as Gojali enlightens readers on the situation in Indonesia. Relativism emphasizes the interconnectedness of issues. As previously stated, cybercrime is a multifaceted subject, and this remains the case in Indonesia. Gojali describes that the lack of legal ramifications for hackers has resulted in not only severe economic damage but also social mistrust among victim corporations and businesses. Gojali’s writing, as is standard with most professional researchers, is very neutral in delivery. The principle of ethical neutrality stands out, as he adheres to basic research ethics, only using data obtained from proper channels, as well as not using partisan authors for his sources. In the piece, there wasn’t a main hypothesis, but rather, the research question was as to why Indonesian corporations and the government have been so powerless to properly handle corporate cybercrime.

            Before delving into the findings of Gojali, there must be an understanding of how the data was obtained. According to the article, researchers took a “qualitative inductive” approach to gathering data. Associated with the social sciences, the approach involves the collection of data through surveys, focus groups, and document analysis, then interpreting and reporting the results. Researchers assert that with such a broad topic, spanning criminal data, cyber laws, and regulations, it was necessary to use this method. Using primarily numerical data, Gojali displays how compared to other countries, Indonesia is one of the riskiest countries in terms of cybercrime. Through percentages within a datasheet, he displays that Indonesia beats all other Asian countries in terms of cybercrime level. In the graph, China has a level of 21%, whilst Indonesia has a level of 24%. (In the likelihood of cybercrime, small shifts in percentage like this matter!) Building upon this, he showcases hard-dollar amounts, stating “… the country’s loss due to cybercrime exceeded 34.2 billion U.S Dollars.” (Gojali, 2023) The article notes that the ‘Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law”, the Indonesian framework for cybercrimes, was devised without provisions for prosecuting those who attack Indonesian businesses digitally. Rather, the legal framework mainly protects consumer privacy and public data, with no specific cyber law protections for businesses or consequences for corporate cybercrime.

Unintentionally, this article does an excellent job of tying together a multitude of social science principles that have been covered in class. As previously mentioned, Gojali operates under empiricism, providing very little bias in his paper, rather, he uses stats and trusted sources to relay information. More broadly, this follows the concept of objectivity, or seeing topics in a “value-free” manner, which Gojali follows in his explanation. Another concept that is identifiable is that cybercrime is interdisciplinary, and does not just affect one segment of society. Though already relayed in a previous paragraph, the article more broadly speaks to how government action, or in this case inaction, has resulted in damage to corporations monetarily, but also socially. (It’s cyclical in a sense, an Indonesian corporation is hurt due to cybercrime, Indonesians stop trusting the business and stop working with them, leading to further monetary loss, which then leads to more distrust!) Human factors also arise in Gojali’s writing. The original creators of the Indonesian Internet legal framework didn’t think to include special provisions that included attacks against businesses. They didn’t think individuals would maliciously use computers in that way, thinking more to protect against more traditional crimes such as copyright. Gojali applies the concept of variables within the analysis as well, tying together various independent variables, such as the Indonesian laws that resulted in heightened attacks on Indonesian corporations.

In conclusion, Gojali’s work illuminates the dangers of hackers to Indonesian corporations. Though businesses are directly affected by cybercrime, there is a secondary effects. Marginalized communities can be affected monetarily by these businesses being attacked. Overall, the study highlights the outstanding legal issues within Indonesia, displaying that without new, robust frameworks, corporations will continue to suffer. Cybercrime is extremely destructive, and without proper legal response, can run rampant.

SOURCES

Gojali, D. S. (2023, July 1). Identifying the prevalence of cybercrime in Indonesian corporations: A corporate legislation perspective. International Journal of Cyber Criminology. https://cybercrimejournal.com/menuscript/index.php/cybercrimejournal/article/view/130