Mozambique: Central Bank governor warns of cybercrime

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Mozambique: Central Bank governor warns of cybercrime

7:57 CAT | 09 Mar 2020

Photo: O País

The governor of the Bank of Mozambique, Rogerio Zandamela, on Friday warned that cybercrime could undermine the stability of the financial sector, in Mozambique and internationally.

Speaking in Maputo at the opening of a meeting between the central bank and representatives of the commercial banks and other credit institutions, Zandamela called for a legal and regulatory framework to manage the risks of cybercrime.

His warning comes at a time when exposure to cybercrime is increasing as the new information and communication technologies make life more comfortable for the clients of the banking system, but also create vulnerabilities which criminals can use to hack into systems and steal confidential data.

“The cybernetic risk is recognized globally as a threat to the financial markets”, said Zandamela. “Cybercrime is on the increase and can damage the financial sector”.

He pointed to the lack of any consistent legal framework in Mozambique that would open the space for creating a formal cybersecurity programme in the financial sector, which he regarded as an “essential condition” to reduce the risks of banks coming under attack from hackers.

“The legal framework is absent or embryonic”, he said, “which creates gaps in the actions for supervision, inspection and monitoring. There is a challenge to strengthen the regulations”.

In its capacity as regulator and supervisor, the central bank believes that greater awareness of the nature of cybernetic risks, their sources, their implications and how to mitigate them constitutes the first step towards protection against the type of crime which has been occurring recently in financial systems.

Zandamela declared that the Bank of Mozambique, well aware of the problem, has taken the lead to reduce vulnerability to security incidents, by adopting specific control measures to screen information in order to guarantee financial institutions.

“Because of the importance of cybernetic risk, the bank has set in motion a range of actions seeking to guarantee a resilient environment of cyber security in the sector as a whole”, he said.

International research into cybersecurity has shown that over half of the global financial institutions were victims of fraud and economic crimes over the past two years, but few institutions are aware of the risks.

Source: AIM