Standard Chartered and Uganda Bankers’ Association in fight against Cybercrime

By George Mangula

Standard Chartered Bank Uganda in collaboration with Uganda Bankers’ Association (UBA) are spearheading local banking industry discussions on Information and Cyber Security (ICS) as a principal risk arising from the digital and technology revolution.

The session held in Kampala at Golden Tulip Hotel was attended by local the banks’ heads of operations, heads of information technology, and heads of compliance, heads of risk management and audit departments as well as journalists.

The session attended by government representatives was held to help banking industry workers understand the global and local trends in ICS, discuss the emerging regulations and learn how to build a Cyber Secure culture within the local banking industry which of recent has seen rising cases hacking into ATMs and banks’ systems, with hundreds of millions of shillings lost.

While speaking to participants, Standard Chartered Uganda CEO, Albert Saltson, said his institution takes ICS as a key risk and has put in place dedicated initiatives to identify respond to and protect the bank from the Cyber security risks.

Saltson said Cybercrime w is a growing threat to everyone and corporations and they have created dedicated forums and resources to discuss the ICS risk and find ways to mitigate it.

“We have taken this step to spearhead industry discussions in partnership with Uganda Bankers’ Association and other stakeholders on this important topic as part of our commitment to share our knowledge, expertise and best practice within the Ugandan market,” he said.

He said Stanbic Bank Uganda team have the advantage of learnings from the bank’s network and believes adds value to the Uganda Banking sector. “We will continue to premise our services proposition to our clients on the provision of high-quality service to remain trusted and reliable business partners to them.

He said they would continue to study and …understand the local operating environment, manage any emerging risks and support the sector.

UBA CEO Wilbrod Owor, while addressing participants, said investment in digital solutions comes with risks associated with electronic connections to clients and others. “ICS risks have never been greater and the consequences of failure more impactful for our clients and our firms. We are therefore pleased to partner with Standards Chartered Bank to share knowledge and experience of Information and Cyber Security with us,” he said.

Owor said over 90 percent of Ugandans are Cyber insecure, which he said calls for information sharing to combat Cybercrime, which he said is growing in complexity.

“I appeal to financial services sector to understand the risk environment, be security cautious and vigilant around cyber risk events,” he said.

John Jonathan Kwofie, Regional Head Business ICS at Standard Chartered Bank said emerging ICS threats present themselves in different ways such as: Denial-of-service attacks, data espionage, natural threats, sabotage, computer frauds, malicious attacks, message falsification or injection, vandalism and copyright violations, among others.

“It is also envisaged that as technologies advance, a resultant proliferation of cyber threats will be witnessed. The recent ATM frauds and system hacking attacks that we have witnessed in the Ugandan market are a clear indication that Cyber risk is already here with us so we nee3d to move ahead of the culprits.

Leah Kimata, the Country ICS Officer at Standard Chartered Bank Kenya said the annual cost of cybercrime damage is estimated at US$6 trillion by 2021 and beyond. “I therefore appeal to all stakeholders including, government, financial and non-financial institution and other organisations to strategically plan and implement structures and technologies to help in combating cyber threats,” she said, urging banks to build a security culture conscious amounts their staff and that the role of security cannot be left to concerned heads of department.

Standard Chartered Bank has organised stakeholder engagements from January 20-23, 2020 for regulators, the industry, clients and senior management.