Hackers compromise systems of Central Bank of Uganda, stole millions
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The Bank of Uganda (BoU) reports it was hit by a cyber security breach in November 2024, and threat actors successfully compromising the central bank's accounts and stealing millions of dollars.
The attack was executed by a group identifying themselves as "Waste," reportedly based in Southeast Asia. They managed to steal 62 billion Ugandan shillings (approximately $16.8M USD), and to access confidential data, including:
- Bank account information
- Financial transaction data
- Account access credentials (implied by the nature of the attack)
The bank has reportedly recovered more than half of the stolen funds. Oof the 47.8 billion shillings that were transferred:
- UK authorities froze approximately $7M USD, though some was withdrawn before the freeze
- Approximately $6M USD was transferred to accounts in Japan
The exact technical details of how the systems were compromised have not been disclosed by the bank or investigating authorities.
The incident has prompted investigations by multiple authorities, including the Criminal Investigations Department of the police and the Auditor General's office.
