Financial Crime World

Cybercrime Soars as Financial Sector in Guyana Ranks Cybersecurity as Top Concern

For the second year running, executives of financial institutions in Guyana have identified cybersecurity concerns as their top risk factor. According to the 2023 African Financial Industry Barometer survey, a staggering 74% of participants believe that cybersecurity regulation needs improvement.

The Survey Results

  • 97% of surveyed executives at top financial institutions in Guyana consider cybercrime a significant threat.
  • Macroeconomic conditions (97%), political and social instability, and security risks were also identified as major threats facing financial institutions in the country.
  • Cybersecurity incidents result in losses estimated to be between $3.5 billion and $4 billion every year across the continent.

Recent Cyber Attacks

In recent times, a Nigerian cybersecurity professional published an article claiming to have found leaked data on the dark web forum Breached.co, containing customer data, login details of employees, and API access of 43 Nigerian banks. The report also implicated fintechs in the leaked data.

  • Several banks and fintechs in Nigeria have suffered cyber attacks or fraud incidents between 2022 and 2023, including MTN, which sued several banks after losing $53 million from its mobile money service.
  • Flutterwave, a fintech company, has also been affected by alleged attacks, leading it to sue several recipients of the funds and freeze the bank accounts of others.

The Fight Against Fraud

The worrying spate of cyber attacks and fraud has led to the creation of groups to fight against fraud by sharing data. Project Radar is a member alongside other fintechs and eKYC firms, working together to combat fraudulent activities.

According to the Africa Financial Industry Barometer report, there is a trend towards more data sharing among African financial institutions. The report highlights that:

  • 50% of financial institutions are willing to share incident risk data.
  • 42% are willing to share fraud data.
  • 50% are willing to share data to enable interoperability of digital payments.

Cybersecurity Regulations

Despite concerns about the impact of poor economic outlook, only 15% of respondents predict that unfavorable macroeconomic conditions will persist over the next three years in Guyana. However, there are still concerns about cybersecurity regulations:

  • Only 15% of surveyed financial industry leaders consider the cybersecurity regulations in Guyana to be effective.
  • 74% say there needs to be improvement and 11% do not know how cyber and information security is regulated or believe regulation is non-existent.

Overall, the survey highlights the need for improved cybersecurity regulations and data sharing among financial institutions in Guyana and across Africa.