The Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services (Dics) has disclosed that the demographic data for valid passports that was lost due to a cybersecurity breach has been recovered.
Dics, is, however, yet to resume printing the travel documents apparently because the department, together with several other players, is working on recovering the printing system.
In a statement issued Monday, Dics urged Malawians affected by the crisis to exercise patience as it works on resuming the exercise within the next eight days as ordered by President Lazarus Chakwera.
“We urge passport holders to guard their passports securely because the recent cybersecurity breach does not affect the validity, security and usability of any passport already previously issued by the department,” the statement says.
It adds that apart from IT experts from the E-Government Department, the National Registration Bureau and the Department of Innovation and Creativity in the Office of the President and Cabinet, the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra) and the ICT Association of Malawi (Ictam) have joined the recovery team.
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Six days ago, Chakwera ordered the inclusion of Macra and Ictam in the efforts to get the passport printing system back in Dics control.
Meanwhile, the department has said the pursuit is “yielding fruits”, and insists that with the “army of experts working under continued vigilance of concerned Malawians”, it will resume passport printing by the deadline.
The Daily Times first reported about the passport issuance system being hacked, earlier this year.
Dics had initially dismissed the reports before Chakwera confirmed them in his response to a question from a lawmaker when he appeared in Parliament on February 21.
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The department has been under pressure to resolve the passport crisis, which has resulted in some Malawians failing to travel abroad for medical treatment and scholarship opportunities.
