Indonesian Police Arrest Hacker Who Used Campus Websites for Gambling Ads

East Java Police have arrested a man accused of hacking into hundreds of official websites belonging to universities, schools, government agencies, and private institutions. The suspect, Adjani Ardhian Kusuma from Central Java, allegedly repurposed these sites to promote online gambling. Authorities discovered the scheme during a cyber patrol that flagged suspicious activity on Telegram. Investigators identified a Telegram account, "S-X MARKETS," offering services to boost website ratings and facilitating the sale of compromised school and institutional domains. According to East Java Police Director of Cyber Crimes Kombes Pol Bimo Ariyanto, dozens of schools and universities in East Java had their domains taken over and were used for gambling promotions. Kusuma targeted educational and institutional sites due to their high traffic, exploiting security vulnerabilities to insert malicious files. He then took control of data traffic by acquiring login credentials. The hacker reportedly operated alone, learning hacking skills independently since 2023. He is estimated to have compromised 80 school websites, 20 university sites, 13 government sites, and 147 domestic private websites. Each hacked site was sold for between Rp100,000 and Rp1 million (approximately $7 to $70 USD), with estimated cumulative profits ranging from Rp200 million to Rp500 million ($1,400 to $3,500 USD). Police are investigating further to identify potential accomplices and other dark web marketplaces involved in similar activities.

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So there were dozens of schools and dozens of universities around East Java that were hacked and their domains were taken over to be sold. So when you click on the university's account, accounts on its subdomain will show gambling promotions.