Malawi’s immigration office hit by cyberattack

Malawi stopped giving out passports because their computer system for immigration was attacked by hackers.

President Chakwera told Members of Parliament that the government department’s targeting was a big threat to national security.

He said that the hackers wanted money.

The president said that the government won’t give in to what they want and is trying to fix the problem.

“We don’t use public money to satisfy criminals, and we don’t negotiate with those who attack our country,” he said on Wednesday.

Many young people in Malawi want passports because they want to move to other countries for work.

Mr Chakwera said he told the immigration department to come up with a temporary plan and start giving out passports again within three weeks. This is until they can take charge of the system again.

He said they would make a more secure plan that lasts a long time.

For the last two weeks, Malawi has not been giving out passports because of a technical problem.

Mr Chakwera said for the first time on Wednesday that the immigration system was “hacked,” but he didn’t say who he thought the hackers were.

There is no other information about the cyber-attack, including how it could affect keeping personal data safe.

Malawians want to know why it’s taking so long to get their travel document.

This has happened before in the past few years.

Last year, the government stopped giving out new documents because they ran out of passport booklets. An official said that the problem was getting worse because there wasn’t enough foreign money.

There have been problems since 2021 when the attorney-general’s office ended a contract for passports with a company that had been providing the service, saying there were problems.

Some angry people in Malawi have blamed the government for not processing applications on time and have accused them of being corrupt.

Right now, if you don’t have a passport or your passport is expired, you can’t get a new one and you can’t travel.