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Coronavirus pandemic

Moscow City Hall’s website faces attacks after introducing travel permit application form

The digital travel permit system will take effect in Moscow and the Moscow region on April 15

Moscow City Hall Vladimir Gerdo/TASS

Moscow City Hall

© Vladimir Gerdo/TASS

MOSCOW, April 13. /TASS/. The Moscow City Hall’s website faced numerous cyber attacks after an online option for requesting digital travel permits had been introduced, Chief of Moscow’s Department of Information Technologies Eduard Lysenko told the Ekho Moskvy (or Echo of Moscow) radio station.

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Russia ascends to 15th place in the world on coronavirus case count

"The system of issuing [digital permits] is an unprecedented one, we faced more paid-for attacks in just three hours than in the previous two quarters," he pointed out.

According to the Moscow anti-coronavirus crisis center, users may have to wait longer for their permits to be issued due to the high load on the website.

The digital travel permit system will take effect in Moscow and the Moscow region on April 15. Permits can be requested on the Moscow government’s website, on the phone and via a text message.

To date, a total of 18,328 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 1,470 patients having recovered from the virus. Russia’s latest data indicates 148 fatalities nationwide. Earlier, the Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.

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