Bali’s e-visa glitch exposes traveller passport details

Indonesia has been crippled by several massive data breaches with its latest exposing the passport details of some Aussies travelling to Bali.

Indonesia has copped a string of cyber breaches with its latest e-visa glitch exposing sensitive traveller information to strangers, with three Aussies caught up in the flaw.

The country recently implemented smart e-gates at airports across the country, designed to streamline the customs process.

However, just a few months after the installation, it suffered a major data breach which immigration is “aware” and is reportedly in the process of fixing it.

According to the ABC, three Australians who separately travelled to Bali were caught up in the fiasco where they had sensitive details of strangers appearing on their phones when they scanned a QR code on their visa document.

Passport details of Aussies travelling to Bali have allegedly been exposed in an e-visa glitch.

“I could see the visa data of two other Australians, and presumably they could see my private data too,” Melbourne woman Lauren Levin told the publication.

“When I spoke to an immigration supervisor at the airport [in Bali], he said this had been going on for a while and ‘everyone was impacted, not just me’.”

Ms Levin’s cousin’s e-visa document for a separate trip two months ago, displayed the personal details of a man travelling to Bali from India, according to the ABC.

Meanwhile, another Aussie travelling to Bali could also allegedly see the details of two tourists from China on his document, including their passport photos.

Indonesia’s Immigration department in Jakarta, however, is on the case and said they are in the process of fixing anomalies in the system.

Not every visa applicant experiences the problem with the Smartraveller travel advisory for Indonesia remaining unchanged.

Some Aussies claimed they could see the personal information of fellow travellers, including their date of birth. Picture: Agung Parameswara/Getty Images

“We are aware of this problem, but we have tens of thousands of visa-on-arrival applications every day,” a spokesman from the department told the ABC.

“Some anomalies like this have happened before, but it doesn’t mean we are normalising it, we continue to learn from problems to improve the system.”

When some travellers scan visa QR codes it exposes passport details of fellow travellers.

What to do

Andrew Charlton MP, who was appointed the Special Envoy for Cyber Security and Digital Resilience, said if you think your passport data has been compromised, “first, don’t panic”.

“Your physical passport is still safe for travel and identity verification. However, if you’re concerned, you can cancel and apply for a new passport at any time,” Mr Charlton said.

“If you’re worried about identity theft, contact IDCARE at 1800 595 160 for advice. You can also visit the Australian Cyber Security Centre or Scamwatch for more information.”

Catastrophic data breaches

It comes as the country battled several catastrophic data breaches in June, crippling government services for days, including a ransomware attack on its Temporary National Data Centre.

According to local media, the centre was compromised by the hacker group Brain Cipher resulting in disrupted services for nearly 300 central and local state agencies, including immigration services and major airports.

The cyber attack forced immigration officers to manually record the details of travellers as hours-long queues formed at entry points.

It comes as the country battled several catastrophic data breaches in June, crippling government services for days.

Its operators have targeted multiple critical industries, including medical, educational, manufacturing and government agencies, with its latest victim Indonesia’s National Data Centre.

The hacker group demanded a ransom of $C11 million – $A12 million to – to unlock the data, which the government refused to pay.

But according to Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, in a mysterious turn of events, Brain Cipher apologised and released the decryption key for free on July 3.

According to the 2020 Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI), which measures countries’ commitment to addressing cyber challenges, Indonesia ranked 24th out of 194 countries.

Meanwhile, on June 22, the Indonesia Automatic Fingerprint Identification System (INAFIS) was also hacked.

According to the 2020 Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI), which measures countries’ commitment to addressing cyber challenges, Indonesia ranked 24th out of 194 countries, higher than Vietnam (25th), Thailand (44th), and the Philippines (61st).

Following the host of data breaches, the Indonesian government intends to review the cybersecurity practices of data centres in countries, including Canada, to better defend itself against future cyberattacks.

The government will also establish a new cyber force, Angkatan Siber, which will become the fourth branch of the military, alongside the army, navy and air force.

“Indonesia’s vulnerability to cyber-security threats is arguably one of the highest in the region,” Edbert Gani Suryahudaya, a researcher at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), told The Strait Times.

“The frequent threats of cyber attacks necessitate a more comprehensive and strategic response from the government.”