Natis’ new digital rollout raises data leak fears

The National Traffic Information System’s (Natis) newly digitalised learners’ licence tests, online booking and payment systems have raised concerns of leakage of private information.

Technology experts have warned about personal information being accessible to fraudsters.

Natis, a department under the Roads Authority (RA), announced in October that it will replace the manually written learners’ licence test, with a digitalised version, along with an online booking and payment system.

Applicants will be able to book and pay for their tests from home under the new “book and pay” module.

RA spokesperson Hileni Fillemon says the system will be protected by ‘robust’ and state-of-the-art information technology (IT) security controls and preventative measures to safeguard data and transactions.
These include intrusion detection systems (IDS), data encryption, multi-factor authentication and secure payment gateways.

Stricter measures include regular software updates to patch vulnerabilities, antivirus software, zero trust architecture and firewalls to block unauthorised access.

“RA has also enforced strong password policies and regular employee IT security training and awareness to identify and respond to cyber threats such as phishing,” she says.

To prevent cheating, Fillemon says the tests will be conducted at Natis offices and will be invigilated, with webcam monitoring and candidate verification through biometrics.

Salt Essential IT expert Vanessa Maresch says these measures could work but their effectiveness is not guaranteed.

She says with banking and personal information required during payment, criminals may steal them through websites cloning and hacking.

“These measures help, but they are not foolproof. Criminals may create look-alike websites offering “priority slots” or refunds or by tricking you into giving away your one-time passwords,” she says.

She notes that biometrics like face scans make impersonation harder, but advanced fraudsters can still spoof them.

“The main danger is fraud. If the system isn’t properly secured, attackers can exploit weaknesses on the website to access your personal and banking information,” she says.

Maresch recommends the use of secure payment gateways with three-dimensional secure, including Visa secure, MasterCard identity check, and the encryption of personal and banking data to protect data.

Software developer Aron Indongo warns that while Natis measures could work, they are not guaranteed that they can stop fraudsters.

He says webcam monitoring can catch obvious cheating, but syndicates use tricks like remote access tools or off-camera helpers.

“These measures are effective against individual opportunistic cheating, but less effective against well-organised criminal networks unless combined with strong backed analytics and human oversight,” he says.

Indongo says single banking details, identity numbers, addresses and biometric data are sensitive tools and a single breach could expose thousands of users at once.

“Technology alone is not enough, therefore, governance, funding, skills and continuous monitoring will determine whether the system succeeds safely,” he says.

Natis is a government system used to manage driving’s licences, vehicle registration, traffic records and road-related transport services.

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