The Angolan financial system registers, on average, over 350 attempts at cyber attacks, according to the governor of National Bank of Angola (BNA), José de Lima Massano.
The leader who spoke at the 1st Forum on Cybersecurity, promoted by the Ministry of Telecommunications, Information Technologies and Social Communication (MINTTICS), said that attacks represent an increase of around 200%, from 2020 to date, assuring that the BNA has the responsibility to create stability in the financial system, which has a 20-year digitization journey "and today, when we talk about the financial system, topics related to cybersecurity are central".
José Massano points out that this exercise has always been posed with great challenges, both in adapting, on the part of the institutions, with security in transactions that are becoming increasingly technological.
"We are still having a lot of manual transactions, but the bulk of the payment transactions we have abroad today represent what we have in payments, essentially, digital”, he reinforced.
For this reason, adds the governor of the BNA, the institution must also be prepared to protect, within the framework of the responsibilities of managing the payment system, “but also the operators in the same way, since the bank is oriented towards a stable and reliable financial system for all Angolans".
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In the governor's view, the fact that there is a rhythm of attack on the system "and remaining resilient, as we have observed, means that work is being carried out with a remarkable degree of success by our financial system operators".
He made it known that the BNA has an Alternative Business Continuity Centre, where commercial banks are obliged to carry out their operations, with continuity centres, having registered some banks, with attacks and with a certain level of success, “in the sense of that there was penetration, but we managed to ensure that in this process we did not have a loss of financial value for depositors”.
It should be noted that the 1st Forum on Cybersecurity brought together several specialists to discuss strategies aimed at deepening the security of networks and information systems with the aim of increasing the guarantees of free, safe and efficient use of cyberspace by all stakeholders. citizens and public and private entities.
Organized by the Ministry of Telecommunications, Information Technologies and Social Communication (MINTTICS), the event was attended by the Minister of State for Economic Coordination, Manuel Nunes Júnior, as well as the holders of the portfolios of Telecommunications, Information and Communication Technologies Social, Mário Oliveira, Finance, Vera Daves de Sousa, Energy and Water, João Baptista Borges, and the Governor of the National Bank of Angola, José de Lima Massano.
