Claims of $17 million stolen denied by minster of state for finance.
The Bank of Uganda has played down the severity of a recent cyber-attack.
According to The Record, accounts were compromised in the attack and around $17 million was stolen. However the Ugandan Minister of State for Finance, Henry Musasizi, said the incident was not nearly as severe as initially communicated by the media.
"It is true that our account was hacked, but not to the extent of what is being reported," noted Musasizi, who urged parliament to wait for a complete audit on the incident expected to be released within a month.
Musasizi's statement came as opposition leader Joel Ssenyonyi pressed the finance ministry for more details regarding the incident. "It's important that we know what is happening at the Central Bank. If money is being siphoned, whether by hackers or staff of the Bank of Uganda, it should worry all of us," said Ssenyonyi.
It was rumoured that stolen funds had been deposited in Japan and UK accounts, with UK law enforcement claimed to have frozen nearly $7 million.
Written by
Dan Raywood
Senior Editor
SC Media UK
Dan Raywood is a B2B journalist with more than 20 years of experience, including covering cybersecurity for the past 16 years. He has extensively covered topics from Advanced Persistent Threats and nation-state hackers to major data breaches and regulatory changes.
He has spoken at events including 44CON, Infosecurity Europe, RANT Conference, BSides Scotland, Steelcon and ESET Security Days.
Outside work, Dan enjoys supporting Tottenham Hotspur, managing mischievous cats, and sampling craft beers.
