Clarification on the Issue: Finance Minister Purbaya Yudi and the Allegation of Hacking the DPR Budge

Recently, Finance Minister Purbaya Yudi Sadewa has been the subject of much public discussion. This comes after he made several statements deemed controversial or unsettling to the public, such as his remark about the actual price of 3-kilogram LPG in early October, which drew criticism—particularly from Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil, who argued that Purbaya’s statement stemmed from faulty data.

Among the many statements made by Minister Purbaya recently, one of the most controversial was his alleged declaration about hiring hackers. Several TikTok videos claimed that he intended to hire hackers to break into the DPR’s (House of Representatives) budget data. One such post by the account rangers biru alleged that Purbaya was asking the Indonesian people’s permission to hack the DPR’s budget data. Alarmingly, the post received over 271,000 likes and was shared more than 7,500 times. Similar videos were also posted by accounts such as danydan.name (1.6 million views and 97,500 likes) and pakpit_ (255,000 likes).

A screenshot of the post by the account rangers biru on TikTok (Source: TikTok/@homaroham)

However, based on Fact Meter’s investigation, the narratives in those videos qualify as disinformation, as they deliberately distort the actual facts. The videos intentionally cut out portions of Finance Minister Purbaya’s press conference, which took place on Friday, October 24, 2025. In that press conference, Purbaya did mention “calling in hackers,” but the context was not about hacking into DPR’s budget systems. Instead, it was about strengthening Coretax— a digital tax administration system managed by the Directorate General of Taxes, launched on January 1, 2025. The system has faced complaints over unstable network structures and malfunctioning features.

A separate report from Metro TV also noted that Purbaya admitted to recruiting local hackers to help improve the Coretax system. He assured that this initiative would not increase the state’s financial burden:

“Regarding Coretax costs, there’s no additional spending. Maybe just salaries for staff. I’m bringing in IT experts as consultants. Regular pay, standard budget allocations—nothing special.”

Furthermore, Fact Meter’s research shows that recruiting hackers to strengthen or test the security of a digital system is a very common practice. In the IT world, hackers hired or contributing to improve cybersecurity are known as white-hat hackers, as opposed to black-hat hackers who engage in illegal cyberattacks.

Tech giants like Microsoft actively employ white-hat hackers to identify vulnerabilities in their digital systems. For example, in early 2025, Microsoft offered rewards of up to USD 30,000 (around IDR 500 million) for hackers who could find security flaws in their AI and cloud services. Several countries have also embraced the use of white-hat hackers—Belgium legalized white-hat hacking in February 2023, while China employs around 170,000 white-hat hackers under its Ministry of Industry and Public Security.

Conclusion

Based on Fact Meter’s investigation, the claim that Finance Minister Purbaya Yudi Sadewa hired hackers is HALF TRUE (partly false due to misleading context).

Finance Minister Purbaya did plan to hire hackers—but not to commit cybercrimes such as breaching DPR’s budget data. Instead, it was to strengthen and test the Coretax system, which has faced criticism for its suboptimal performance.

Reference

Finance Minister Purbaya Yudi Hired Hackers to Hack the DPR Budget — Is It True?

A screenshot of the post by the account rangers biru on TikTok (Source: TikTok/@homaroham)