Cybersecurity Nightmare Unfolds as Malawi's Immigration Systems Under Attack

 

There has been a recent cyberattack on Malawi, according to President Lazarus Chakwera, which has caused the government to stop issuing passports. However, some observers believe such an attack did not occur. Chakwera informed parliament on Wednesday that security measures were in place to identify and apprehend the attackers who compromised the country's security. 

It was his statement that the attackers were demanding millions in ransom, but the administration was unwilling to pay it. The hacker has been causing the Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services' passport printing system to malfunction over the past three weeks, according to him. In Malawi, there is a high demand for passports with many young people seeking to migrate to find employment. 

As a result of Mr Chakwera's request, the immigration department is expected to provide a temporary solution within three weeks of regaining control of the system to resume passport issuance. There would be an additional security safeguard developed as part of the long-term solution, he said. 

In his address on Wednesday, Chakwera said that he had given the immigration department a three-week deadline to provide a temporary solution to the passport printing issue and to resume printing of passports. He further said at the same event that he had reassured hackers that the Malawi government would not pay ransoms. As a result of the government's termination of the contract with Techno Brain, which had supplied Malawi’s passports since 2019, Malawi has experienced passport issues since 2021. 

As a result of the government's inability to find a replacement for the company in 2023, the company was re-engaged temporarily. Nevertheless, immigration officials often had to scale back production due to shortages of materials or unpaid bills, which resulted in them having to scale down production several times. In addition to being the executive director of the Center for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives, Sylvester Namiwa is also a member of the organization that has threatened to hold protests within the coming days if it does not receive an immediate resolution. 

According to Chakwera, he has questioned the integrity of the claim that the system had been hacked by someone else. During a radio interview with a local radio station on Thursday, Malawi's Information Minister Moses Nkukuyu explained that the information Chakwera presented in parliament had been provided by immigration experts. VOA's calls and texts to Wellington Chiponde, a spokesperson for the immigration department, were not responded to.