The twelve people arrested over a cyber-fraud attempt on Equity Bank Rwanda were apprehended before they could steal any of the bank’s money.

Officials from the bank told The New Times the bank did not lose any money in the attempt and neither did its clients.

Rwanda Investigation Bureau is holding 12 suspects who include eight Kenyans, three Rwandans and one Ugandan who were attempting to hack the local bank.

Marie Michelle Umuhoza the Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) Spokesperson told The New Times that investigations are still underway to establish the nature of the operation and if there were other people involved.

Umuhoza said that the suspects were apprehended on Friday last week after RIB was tipped off on the criminal activity.

She added that over time, Rwanda Investigation Bureau and partner agencies have improved their skills and practices in dealing with cybercrime which is growing in popularity.

The National Public Prosecution Authority said that they were still investigating and that the suspects will be arraigned before court in accordance with the criminal procedure.

The prosecution called for increased inter-state cooperation in conducting joint investigation, creation of efficient channels of communication, requests for assistance to fight against the vice.

Speaking to The New Times, Equity Bank Managing Director Hannington Namara said that no money was lost by the bank in the attempt, adding that so far, there were no vulnerabilities in their systems.

He said that the arrest of the suspects before they could successfully access the systems was a manifestation of improvement of cybersecurity at the level of banks and the security authorities.

However, he said that there is need for continued efforts to educate the general public to reduce their vulnerability.

Statistics by RIB showed that crimes related to cyber fraud led to economic losses worth Rwf6bn in 2018.

The statistics issued in May this year showed that at least 113 cases of cybercrimes of which 64 were committed in the City of Kigali were recorded in 2018 leaving many people counting losses.

Cybercrimes that they recorded increased from 47 cases in 2017 of which 40 were committed in Kigali city leading to Rwf 298 million and, 106, 000 Euros in economic losses to the victims.

Central Bank statistics further show that in 2018 there were over 50m suspicious connections detected and dropped, indicating the growing popularity of the vice. In 2017, there were about eight million suspicious connections.

The biggest chunk of the amount lost to cybercrime in local financial institutions last year was through internet initiated payments whereby about Rwf 256m was involved in 6 incidences, according to the Central Bank.

Through counterfeit, lost or stolen cards used at terminals such as point of sale machines, ATMs, or online, Rwf 25m was reported stolen.

Experts say that the main threats in cybercrime in Rwanda include fraudulent activities, internal cyber-crimes by internal personnel (either deliberately or erroneously) as well as external cyber-attacks.

Central Bank cyber-security personnel say that criminals have been exploiting vulnerabilities such as weak oversight by senior managers, weaknesses in monitoring and securing of IT vulnerabilities by IT security staff which they say is common among many institutions.

editor@newtimesrwanda.com