With the wave of crime rates going up in the country, Ugandan Financial institutions have been advised to use the latest technologies to stop fraudsters who target banks and automated teller machines (ATMs).
Last year the Uganda Police arrested a group of Bulgarians, who have since been arraigned before court, for stealing money from ATMs.They were arrested with an assortment of screw drivers, laptops, soldering wire, a card reader, glue, a tool box and some equipment the Police could not identify.
Judith Nabakooba, the Police spokesperson, told New Vision that they are training its personnel with help of Interpol and Eastern Africa Police Chief Cooperation Organisation to curb electronic crime targeting financial institutions.
Jude Obitre of Diebold East Africa, which specialises in intelligent security solutions for financial institutions, said the banking industry cannot afford to lose billions of dollars to fraudsters through ATMs. He said the industry is moving towards new intelligent and superior technology referred to as Payment Card Industry-Data Standard Security (PCI-DSS).
“Fraud is like electricity. It shocks and it normally follows the path of resistance. That’s how hackers work,” Obitre said.
The new security system contains a multi-layered network of defenses to guard against each type of attack. It guards against sophisticated fraud attempts such as card skimming, PIN interception and dispenser trapping.
Anil Kuruvilla, the managing director of Computer Point, said his organisation has partnered with Diebold to help financial institutions defeat fraudsters.
“Computer Point will deliver first line product both hardware and software to banking institutions to help them curb hackers who use ATMs to defraud banks,” Kuruvilla said.
Obitre said new technology can transform ATMs into intelligent devices that will do functions such as cash deposit automation envelope free and carry out multiple currency handling.
Source: New vision
