Jakarta. Several websites belonging to the central and local governments were compromised by hackers on Thursday in what appears to be a retaliatory attack against the ongoing crackdown on gambling apps and websites.

A page on the Religious Affairs Ministry website displayed a message promoting an online gambling app until it was replaced with an “under repair” notification.

Similar attacks targeted the websites of the municipal governments of Tulungagung and Malang in East Java, as well as a state vocational school in Depok, West Java.

Muhammadiyah University in Lampung and Piksi Ganesha Polytechnic also had their websites compromised by gambling apps.

Although the cyberattack seems to be aimed at gaining attention without causing significant financial harm, it further exposed weaknesses in the government’s cybersecurity systems.

Last month, the national data center was breached by a ransomware attack that disrupted immigration services.

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