Hackers have become a major problem for Kenya’s financial institutions as for the last two years, over Sh30billion has been lost to cyber crime related attacks.
Based on records obtained by detectives, around 2015 financial institutions lost Sh14 billion and Sh17billion last year.
It was after a serious police raid that this information came to light. A multi-agency team arrested at least 11 suspects in an operation in Nairobi. Those in custody include a former police officer who worked with cybercrime unit and a former Kenya Revenue Authority official.
The institutions that have suffered the most include Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA), Saccos and the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
The Kenyan authorities blame this on the technological advancement which has made Kenya a sweet spot for cyber crime.
In other news: DeepCoder: An A.I That Can Write Its Own Code
The hackers in custody are said to have been able to steal data & money undetected using remote access tools, key loggers, Progdata and malware to gain access to computers which in return gave them access to all information within the system.
The criminals also have international contacts to countries such as Moldova, Belgium and France.
A similar incident happened in Uganda too where institutions like Centenary Bank and Stanbic suffered losses after their ATM systems were hacked.
This comes as a warning to all institutions in East Africa as we continue to experience high levels of technological advancement.
Our governments should invest more in cyber security or else, we’re going to face more cyber crime incidents in the near future.
Leave a Reply