The Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC) has clarified that the recent data leak involving the Male’ Taxi application was not the result of an external cyberattack, but rather an unauthorized act by a company employee.

The issue surfaced a day ago when personal information of several users was leaked across social media platforms. Following the incident, MTCC launched an internal investigation which revealed that an employee had accessed the backend database system, modified information, and took screenshots to leak publicly.

According to MTCC, the individual acted without authorization to achieve personal and political objectives. The company confirmed that the employee has since been dismissed from their position. Upon detecting the unauthorized access, the ICT network security team immediately notified operations, leading to a system shutdown and security lockdown.

MTCC assured the public that the server and backend systems for the Male’ Taxi Line were successfully restored and secured by 11:30 PM last night. The company emphasized that customers will no longer face difficulties in accessing services and reiterated that the firewall was not breached by external hackers.