Nigerian banks are increasingly finding themselves in the crosshairs of cybercriminals, with incidents of cyberattacks on financial institutions rising significantly.
Recently, Guarantee Trust Bank Plc (GTBank) confirmed an attempted hack on its website, just a day after renewing its domain name. This attack, which temporarily disrupted online services, raised concerns among customers about the potential compromise of sensitive data.
In response to fears that the bank’s website had been cloned and customer data exposed, GTBank swiftly issued a statement to reassure its customers.
The bank clarified that the hacking attempt was unsuccessful, the website was not cloned, and no customer data was compromised. GTBank also emphasised that customer information is not stored on the website, further assuring that its Information Security team is working tirelessly to restore full functionality to the site.
The timing of this cyberattack was particularly sensitive, coming just days after GTBank closed its Offer for a Subscription of 9 billion Ordinary Shares at N44.50 per share, aiming to raise N400.5 billion.
The subscription period, which ran from July 15 to August 12, 2024, is part of the bank’s effort to meet the recapitalisation target set by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). This incident sends a stark warning to other financial institutions currently raising capital that they, too, are vulnerable to cyber threats.
The rising tide of cybercrime in Nigeria
Nigeria has seen a dramatic increase in cybercrime in recent years. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) reported that the country lost a staggering $706 million to cybercrime in 2022. Ola Olukayode, the EFCC Chairman, revealed that the commission had to freeze more than 300 bank accounts to protect the naira from further cyberattacks.
