Repeated government system glitches spark growing concerns

• Health services remain affected by the malfunction, while the Ministry of Finance reported a viral hacking attempt in September, leading to system disconnections. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry also faced a similar breach.

Just days after the Ministry of Health’s announcement, one of its systems experienced a technical issue, prompting the activation of protection measures and the shift of most transactions to manual processing.

Meanwhile, the unified government app ‘Sahel’ also faced an urgent technical malfunction, causing users difficulties in accessing and using its services, according to Al Jarida newspaper.

While health services are still affected by the malfunction, the Ministry of Finance announced in September last year that one of its systems was subjected to a viral hacking attempt. This led to the disconnection of protection systems and procedures, as well as the disconnection of the systems themselves. Additionally, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry experienced a similar breach attempt.

With increasing reports of “technical dysfunction, questions arise about whether these issues are interconnected, whether they result from deliberate actions or are purely technical, and about the readiness of state agencies to address emergencies and protect their systems from external threats.

Youssef Kazem, the official spokesman for ‘Sahel,’ told KUNA that the technical teams are working to completely fix the defect and restore normal operations as soon as possible.

He added that users can gradually return to using the application by first updating their digital civil card data in the ‘Id’ application and then accessing ‘Sahel’ to enter the civil number for the authentication procedure.