E-ID disruption now solved, government IT agency confirms

The issues which caused a temporary disruption to government e-ID systems has now been stabilised, the Malta Information Technology Agency (MITA) confirmed.

MITA explained that following the issuance of an SMS and email by MATSEC containing a direct link to the exam results portal, a significantly higher-than-anticipasted number of students attempted to access the service simultaneously.

Users were met with an error page when attempting to access MySchool

This surge in authentication requests against the e-ID service meant users were left with loading delays and subsequent login errors on all government portals. The same can be said for the MyHealth system as well as that of the Malta Tax and Customs Administration. Users trying to access the ARMS and Planning Authority portals also experienced difficulties.

The disruption affected students trying to access the MyExams and MATSEC portals as SEC and A-Level examination results which were due to be released on the same day.

After fixing the problem, MITA’s technical team implemented new mitigation measures and increased the system’s capacity in an effort to stabilise the service for the future.

MITA also said it will continue to monitor the service closely and take any further action needed to maintain service availability for Maltese people.

"We also take this opportunity to wish all students the very best with their results and future endeavors," MITA concluded.

Responding to a parliamentary question asked by MP Romilda Zarb and Opposition MP Darren Carrabott earlier in the day, Education Minister Byron Camilleri said MITA was prioritising students by focusing its efforts towards MATSEC-related servers to ensure they were able to access their examination results as soon as possible.

Nationalist Party MP Jerome Caruana Cilia commented on the issue, saying that while technical problems can occur, it is unacceptable for large numbers of students to be unable to access their results because of a government system failure.