By Burnett Munthali
Introduction
In December 2023, I lost my father in-law in Kasungu and my sister in-law travelled all the way from Johannesburg South Africa to come and attend the funeral in Malawi. After the burial ceremony, she later started working on her passport renewal, she paid express fee for her passport but to no avail. She paid for the second time, but the passport could not be issued to her from Malawi immigration offices in Lilongwe. She again paid for a travel document out of desperation, unfortunately, even a travel document could not be accessed. She finally departed on Sunday 11 February 2024 for South Africa as an illegal immigrant without any documentation as she had left her family and children in Johannesburg after three months of lies and promises from the passport office. The main excuse Malawi Immigration kept giving is that there was no network. That is how bad the situation is on the ground as we speak.
Malawi immigration system hacked.
President Reverend Lazarus Chakwera said the cyber-attack was a serious breach of national security. Malawi government has suspended the issuing of passports following a cyber-attack on the immigration service’s computer network. President Lazarus Chakwera told MPs that the targeting of the department amounted to a “serious national security breach”. He revealed that the hackers were asking for a ransom. But the president said the government would not give in to their demands and was working to resolve the problem. Chakwera said his government is not in the business of appeasing criminals with public money, nor is his government in the business of negotiating with those who attack Malawi.
Cyberattack
A cyberattack is any intentional effort to steal, expose, alter, disable, or destroy data, applications, or other assets through unauthorized access to a network, computer system or digital device. Threat actors start cyberattacks for all sorts of reasons, from petty theft to acts of war. Whatever technique hackers use, once they have gained access to your data or devices, they can: Steal your money and open credit card and bank accounts in your name. Destroy your credit rating. Request new account Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) or additional credit cards.
Ethical hacking involves an authorized attempt to gain unauthorized access to a computer system, application, or data. Conducting an ethical hack involves duplicating strategies and actions of malicious attackers. They steal your passwords through a variety of methods including data breaches, password cracking, guessing, physical theft and malware. This can have profound consequences, especially if the hackers gain access to your accounts, but there are ways to protect yourself.
Hackers can cause a lot of damage such as: Steal your money and open credit card and bank accounts in your name. Destroy your credit rating. Request new account Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) or additional credit cards. Make purchases on your behalf. There are common ways hackers find information. Phishing is the most common hacking technique. All of our inboxes and text messaging apps are filled with phishing messages daily. Hackers will often use multiple techniques at once to steal your information. These methods include phishing, fake WAP’s (Wireless Access Point), waterhole attacks, brute forcing, bait & switch, and clickjacking.
Hackers steal your identity through social media profiles. They sometimes take over your social media or gaming profiles, which may expose personal information or give them access to linked financial accounts. Personal communications. If crooks intercept private conversations in email and text messages, they could exploit you or others. They can get your address. Your IP address will not give away your exact geographical location. But it can get hackers close. And combined with other publicly available information in your online footprint or social media profiles (like location data or check-ins), hackers can quickly find your home address. And your address matters.
They can get your password. The easiest and most common way that hackers get passwords is from data breaches, in which massive amounts of user data has already been leaked or stolen from companies. This data, which often includes usernames and passwords, is compiled into databases, and may be sold on the dark web or download freely on forums.
Conclusion
The passport production hiccups began 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. What started as a temporary hitch in the production of passports has turned into a full-blown crisis as desperate Malawians are left waiting in vain for the document to facilitate travel for work, studies, business or medical.
The department of immigration and citizenship service offices in Lilongwe looks deserted just like banks without Forex or admarc depots without any Maize as President Reverend Lazarus Chakwera keeps promising Malawians to have hope one more time. However, the challenges have become too much for too long to wait and beat on their shoulders. All the trust in Tonse Alliance Government is gone and excuses are just too much to take.
