Passport service stop from Thursday after hacker attack

The passport service has been affected after a virus entered the system through a hacker attack. Along with this, the passport department has stopped the process of making and distributing passports through digital means. The service is closed to prevent further spread of the virus and it may take 1-2 weeks to fully restore the service. Problems have been observed in 11 computers in some districts and missions including Lalitpur. The 11 computers affected by the virus are being examined at the Integrated Data Management Center from Thursday.

 According to the department, after the application system was blocked due to the virus, more than three thousand service users inside and outside Nepal have been affected daily. Daily, 1500 people apply for passports in the department and more than 1500 from the district and outside. After the appearance of the virus, adequate precautions have been taken keeping in mind the security sensitivity and the application data is completely safe, the department has also requested the users to be patient. After the impact on the passport service, Foreign Minister Arju Rana Deuba has called the director general of the passport department, Tirtha Raj Aryal, and instructed to operate the service smoothly as soon as possible.