Bamako claims to have hacked a French company to recover electoral data
Malian transitional authorities claim to have hacked a French company to recover electoral data. Tuesday evening, in the state television news ORTM, a long report was devoted to the hacking, by Malian hackers working for the transitional authorities, of the French company Idemia accused of having "
taken hostage
" these data.
Aerial view of Bamako. (Illustrative image) © Getty Images / John Image
By: David Baché
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With this accusation of “
hostage-taking
” of electoral data, Bamako had thus justified, at the end of last September,
the
indefinite
postponement of the presidential election scheduled for this month of February
. On the evening of Tuesday, February 13, the transitional authorities explained to the Malians, in a careful presentation, that they had recovered the precious data.
His face is blurred, his name is not revealed. The representative of the “Technical Committee of Volunteer Experts” says that his team of
hackers
, who graciously placed themselves at the service of the Malian transitional authorities, worked “
three weeks day and night
” to “
recover all the passwords of all the servers
” and access valuable Ravec data, the administrative census for civil status purposes.
Under the applause of the transitional president himself, Colonel Assimi Goïta, and Colonel Abdoulaye Maïga, Minister of Territorial Administration, in charge of elections. Which, at the same time, presents the new Mali Koura Biometry file - “
Mali Koura
” meaning “
New Mali
”, an expression that has become the motto of the transitional authorities.
🔴#URGENT: Malian computer geniuses recover biometric data from #Mali held hostage by #France pic.twitter.com/NriKNG6w5Q
— Malivox.net 🇲🇱 (@malivox) February 13, 2024
“
Sovereign solution
”
The “
switch
” from the old file,
created by the French company Idemia
, to this new file will have “
cost nothing
” to public finances, the minister rejoices. “
The affront
” having been “
washed away
” and the “
danger removed
”, according to the ORTM journalist's comment, the thirteen
“
patriotic ”
hackers
were decorated as Knights of the National Order by Colonel Assimi Goïta.
The transitional president salutes the “
excellent work
” of these “
national experts
” and the establishment of the new biometric identification system, a “
sovereign solution developed by Malians
”.
Read alsoPostponement of the presidential election in Mali: “A fallacious approach which reflects the desire to remain in power”
“
Mali has always had access to data
”
Asked by RFI, the French authorities have not reacted at this stage. No official reaction either from the company in question, Idemia, but a source close to the company assures RFI that “
Mali has always had access to the data system
” in question.
“
The collaboration had stopped but they had the passwords and the data was available
”, affirms this source, who recalls what the Malian authorities themselves had indicated at the time, namely that it was the “
transfer of ownership of the system
” which was at the heart of the dispute. Has an intrusion still been observed in the company's computer systems, with what consequences? No response on this point.
Debt and elections
At the end of September, four and a half months ago, the Malian transitional authorities also recognized, in their press release, having contracted a debt of more than 5 billion CFA francs with the Idemia company, "
reason why the basis of Ravec data has been stopped since March 2023
,” Bamako further clarified. Who had apparently overcome this difficulty in June, to organize his constitutional referendum.
The transitional authorities had however invoked this problem, now presented as resolved, to
then justify the postponement of the presidential election
, which should have taken place at this very moment - according to the dates initially planned, we would be precisely in between turns.
Can Malians, therefore, expect that a new date will finally be set for this election, which should end the transition period? Time will tell. Tuesday evening, the opportunity was not taken to announce new deadlines.
Also read: Mali-Niger-Burkina: a common currency, at what price?
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