Employment permits system still offline following suspected breach

The Government's employment permits online portal remains offline following a suspected data breach.

The Department of Enterprise had originally said that the system should be restored by today.

In a message on the site, the Department said it is continuing to progress its investigation into the security incident.

"Regrettably, the system will not return to service on Tuesday 3 November as previously anticipated," according to the notice.

"While significant progress has been made, the Department will only reopen the portal once all necessary security measures, testing and independent assurance have been satisfactorily completed," it added.

Last week, the Department said that a suspected data breach was being investigated after "suspicious activity" was detected on the online system.

A spokesperson added that as part of preliminary investigations, a security vulnerability was identified.

"The portal was taken offline as a precaution to protect the system while the investigation continues," they said at the time.

The Department of Enterprise said it has made an initial notification to the Data Protection Commission as the information potentially exposed includes basic user account information, such as name, email addresses and user account roles (for example employer, agent or employee).

"From preliminary investigations, it appears broader and more sensitive personal data categories have not been affected in the Employment Permits system. The investigation is continuing," the Department said last week.

The Department added that the issue is not linked to flaws recently identified with the PHP programming language that saw websites in Ireland and around the world being taken down in order to protect their systems.

The notice on the employment permits website states that applications received before the portal went offline continuing to be assessed and decisions issuing.

"Alternative arrangements to facilitate the submission of new applications are also being progressed," it said.

"A further update on these arrangements will be made available shortly," according to the message.