India, Nov. 18 -- In June 2024, Indonesia's Temporary National Data Centre (PDN 2) was targeted by a ransomware attack that encrypted over 200 public services. The attackers, using a LockBit 3.0 variant known as Brain Cipher, demanded a USD 8 million ransom. Immigration systems froze, healthcare subsidies were delayed, and school certificates could not be issued. For weeks, every day, services were inaccessible, and confidence in digital governance was shaken.

What unfolded in Jakarta should not be dismissed as a distant crisis. Similar failures have already surfaced across the world. In 2023, a government misconfiguration in Bangladesh exposed the personal details of more than 50 million citizens.

In the Netherlands in 2024, records of...