Immigration says data recovered

The Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services says it is on course to resume production of passports after recovering the demographic data feared lost after ‘digital mercenaries’ intruded into its passports issuing system.

In a statement issued yesterday, the department said information technology (IT) experts from the Department of e-Government, the National Registration Bureau as well as the Office of the President and Cabinet are working together to restore the passport system.

Reads the statement: “There is another directive the President issued five days ago to expand the recovery team to include IT experts from Macra [Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority] and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Association of Malawi has been complied with.

“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.”

The department further said the security breach did not affect the validity, security and usability of any passports that were already issued.

Speaking when he answered questions from legislators in Parliament in Lilongwe on February 21, Chakwera said the printing of passports was suspended because the immigration system was “hacked by digital mercenaries who infiltrated the system” and were demanding ransom money.

He gave the department three weeks to find alternative means to produce passports while working on a long-term solution with additional security safeguards.

The passport production challenges started after Attorney General (AG) Thabo Chakaka-Nyirenda cancelled the $60.8 million (about K103.3 billion) Techno Brain contract in December 2021 for alleged poor handling of the contract by the previous administration.

The department continued the production at a reduced rate until late 2023 when it completely stopped.

In the wake of the mess that led to suspension of passport printing and processing, some quarters accused Techno Brain of having a hand in the purported hacking.

However, in a statement last week which Techno Brain representative Nandan Gopalakrishna confirmed they had issued, the IT firm said it empathised with Malawi and conducted an assessment despite handing over the system to Malawi last year.

The company said it made its assessment and submitted practical suggestions to Malawi Government, but is yet to get feedback on way forward.