Commercial banks are among the industries with the most regulations, making it necessary that such regulations are easy to understand and implement, the Bank of Namibia’s (BoN) director of information and communication technology (ICT) Marsorry Ickua said.
“We need to make sure that our regulations are easy to understand, easy to implement and that we do not overregulate to stifle innovations. We also need to make sure we are staying ahead of these evolving threats”.
Ickua said this during a presentation on cybersecurity in the banking sector, its importance, threats, trends and challenges at the 7th National Information and Communication Technology summit that is underway in Windhoek.
The director noted they are busy rethinking the way cybersecurity investments should happen in organisations, with the idea of being proactive with strategies.
“We need to make sure that we are thinking in a similar way to how perpetrators are thinking so that we can use these technologies to protect our organisations. cybersecurity is the one space where we do not compete in the banking sector because your safety and security translate directly into my safety and security, since we are so interlinked and intertwined,” he added.
Ickua stated that the sector came up with a Cybersecurity Council, intended to create a safe environment and share information without the risk of repercussions from a regulator.
Laying out some recommendations, Ickua noted there is a need to make sure local skills and capacity-building are beefed up, as well as to continue adapting and evolving to the changing environment.
Furthermore, he stated that the banking industry is experiencing a lot of emerging technologies, making use of artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Thus, the sector is using these technologies to safeguard the central bank – even though they are operating quite in silos.
“But the bad actors and perpetrators are also using the very same technologies to understand how we can use this to circumvent whatever measures companies are put into place. So, we need to make sure we understand the technologies we are putting out there, and that we learn the drawbacks to this technology so that we can safeguard our organisations and institutions,” he explained.
Meanwhile, the head of business information and technology at Telecom Namibia, Jacobina Nampila, said there is a need to implement robust data protection protocols, including encryption and secure storage to safeguard sensitive information from unauthorised access.
In terms of adherence to regulations, Nampila urged authorities to ensure there is strict compliance with cybersecurity regulations and standards.
Between August 2022 and August 2023, approximately 0.06% of the 1.3 million eWallet holders and about 788 eWallet transactions resulted in a loss of N$600 000 due to fraudulent activity.
This brought First National Bank (FNB)’s security into question.
The FNB eWallet service allows customers to send money to anyone with a valid Namibian cellphone number. The money is transferred instantly and can be withdrawn from FNB ATMs, buy prepaid airtime and electricity, as well as pay for DStv and GOtv, and top up one’s Boxoffice account.