Jakarta – MA, who successfully hacked the official website of the General Elections Commission (KPU), has received an offer to work for the National Police, his mother claimed.
"When he was arrested, he was treated very well. Even Bapak Ricky Boy Sialagan from the Cyber Crime Directorate [CID] said my son is an asset who had to be protected and might get a job with the National Police or KPU," MA's mother, Mira Melinda, said in Payakumbuh, West Sumatra, on Thursday as quoted by Antara.
Payakumbuh Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Endrastyawan Setyowibowo said on Wednesday, as quoted by kompas.com, that MA only had a junior high school certificate, adding that he was arrested on Monday.
However, MA's mother said her son was released and living with his uncle in Jakarta. "His phone was confiscated, but he was given a new one by the police in Jakarta so that he can communicate with us," she said on Thursday.
Mira added that her son had been interested in IT since he was in elementary school, saying that he was a self-taught IT expert. "He plays with his laptop all day and has received many certificates [for his achievements in IT]," she said.
Among the certificates MA received was the SQL Injection Challenge from the Communications and Information Ministry, Responsible Disclosure from McAfee and Bug Report Vulnerability from Tokopedia.
Meanwhile, his uncle, Ramadhan Putra, said Ma had hacked the KPU's website on April 18, a day after voting day, as a warning, adding that his nephew had told him that he only wanted to "remind" the KPU that its website was not well-protected. (gis/evi)