Public Education as a Strategy for Human Resource Development in Preventing Cybercrime in Indonesia

Cybercrime has escalated significantly in Indonesia over the past five years, with offenses such as online gambling, fraud, and data manipulation growing in both volume and complexity. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of public education—particularly the National Digital Literacy Movement (GNLD)—in preventing cybercrime by analyzing trend data from Bareskrim (2020–2024) and national digital literacy indicators. A qualitative descriptive approach was employed using official secondary data. The results revealed a structural gap between the increasing scale of literacy outreach and the country’s continued vulnerability to cyber threats. Despite the GNLD program reaching over 5.8 million participants and the national Digital Literacy Index rising to 3.65 out of 5 by 2023, the “Digital Safety” pillar remained the weakest. This disconnect suggests that general awareness has not translated into practical digital protection. The study concludes that public education must evolve from broad-based literacy campaigns into data-informed, behaviorally targeted strategies that reflect real-world threat patterns and regional vulnerabilities. Such approaches are critical to cultivating genuine digital resilience in high-risk communities