The Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE), Ethiopia’s chief commercial bank, recently encountered a costly system glitch. This fault unexpectedly permitted users to withdraw more than their account balances, amounting to more than $40 million.
The bank has hired international cybersecurity experts to rectify the issue and recover any stolen funds. Despite the glitch causing significant trepidation, no customers experienced any negative impact on their account balances.
Questions have surfaced regarding the competence of the bank’s IT security measures. The Ethiopian government expressed its distress over the situation and has ordered a thorough investigation.
University students were the first to notice and exploit the bank glitch, spreading the news on social media.
This resulted in overdrawn ATMs and accounts flagged for suspicious transactions being frozen.
While technicians resolved the error within five hours, customers were bewildered and concerned. Reports suggest the bank’s overall operations greatly suffered due to this glitch. Local media estimates the bank’s total loss is around $42 million.
Authorities confirmed that this incident was caused by a technical error, not a cyber-attack. The bank suspended system activities for several hours to fix the glitch, much to the annoyance of its customers.
The issue highlighted the vulnerability of current banking systems to technical faults. It has prompted a review of the bank’s systems in hopes of preventing future incidents.
The Commercial Bank of Ethiopia has been a key player in the country’s financial sector since 1963. The incident prompted the bank to enhance its cybersecurity measures, and efforts to regain customer trust have become a priority.
