SA banks unaffected by Silence malware threat

It's business as usual for South African banks, despite a warning of potential malware attacks on major institutions in sub-Saharan Africa.

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Cybersecurity company, Kaspersky, issued a report on 13 January saying that its researchers have reported on thousands of notifications of attacks on major banks located in the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region. "The malware used in the attacks indicates that the threat actors are most likely to be an infamous Silence hacking group, previously known to be responsible for the theft of millions of dollars from banks across the world."

However, the South African Banking Risk Information Centre (Sabric) says that it is aware of the report, but there has been no impact on local banks to date and it is business as usual as all banking services are operating normally.

"Nevertheless, the banking Industry takes cybersecurity very seriously and has robust risk mitigation strategies in place. Because banks, as the custodians of money, are continuously under attack globally, these strategies are agile and are reviewed as new threats are identified.

“The banking industry collaborates by sharing information to ensure that our cyber resilience is continually strengthened. We will continue to monitor this situation very closely as an industry," says Susan Potgieter, Sabric acting CEO.