Demographic data lost at Immigration Department after system was hacked now recovered

* The recovery team was expanded by including IT experts from MACRA and ICT Association of Malawi

* With such an army of experts working under continued vigilance of concerned Malawians, the goal of resuming passport printing services by the 21-day deadline set by the President is within reach

By Duncan Mlanjira

The Department of Immigration & Citizenship Services assures all Malawians holding valid passports that the demographic data loss as a result of the recent cybersecurity breach has been fully recovered.

This is in public issued today, which also urges all valid passport holders “to guard their passports securely because recent cybersecurity breach does not affect the validity, security, and usability of any passports already previously issued by the Department.

The updates comes on the 12th day after President Lazarus Chakwera ordered the expeditious restoration of the passport issuance system, which he announced in Parliament that it had been hacked by unknown cybercrime experts and were demanding a huge ransom from Government.

The President announced that his administration had no plans to bow down to the hackers and thus asked the government machinery to solve the crisis expeditiously.

The Immigration Department assure the public that it pursuit of this goal is yielding fruits following combined and tireless work of IT experts from the Department of E-Government in the Ministry of Information; the National Registration Bureau (NRB) in the Ministry of Homeland Security, and the Department of Innovation and Creativity in the Office of the President & Cabinet.

After another directive from the President issued five days ago, the recovery team was expanded by including IT experts from Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority MACRA and ICT Association of Malawi (ICTAM).

“With such an army of experts working under continued vigilance of concerned Malawians, the Department is confident that the goal of resuming passport printing services by the 21-day deadline set by the President is within reach.

“We, therefore, thank all affected Malawians for continuing to exercise patience during this time, and any inconvenience caused in the meantime is sincerely regretted,” said the public statement.

The inclusion of ICTAM follows an offer of assistance the body made through its President, Clarence Gama, who told the media that some players in the IT industry have faced cyberattacks before.

Gama also urged public entities to always seek support from local experts whenever they face challenges in their operations.