Bank of Uganda awaiting police report on alleged $17 mln hacking theft
Updates with central bank response paragraph 1 and 4
KAMPALA, Nov 28 (Reuters) -The Bank of Uganda said it was awaiting a police investigation into a news report that offshore hackers stole 62 billion Ugandan shillings ($16.8 million) from the central bank.
Uganda's state-owned New Vision newspaper reported on Thursday that hackers, identifying themselves as "Waste," reportedly accessed the Bank of Uganda's IT systems and illicitly transferred the funds earlier this month.
The hacking group based in Southeast Asia, sent part of the stolen money to Japan, New Vision said, citing unnamed sources at the bank.
In an emailed response to a Reuters query the Bank of Uganda neither confirmed nor denied the incident, but said it was "waiting for the police report on the reported incident".
Police did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the matter.
New Vision said the central bank had successfully recovered over half of the money from the hackers. In response to the cyber attack, President Yoweri Museveni has ordered an investigation, it said.
Separately Uganda's biggest independent newspaper, Daily Monitor, reported that the theft may have involved collusion by insiders.
Cyber thefts from banks and other financial service providers, including telecom firms, have occurred many times in Uganda. However, police officials have said that some banks are hesitant to publicly acknowledge such incidents due to fears of alienating customers. ($1 = 3,685.0000 Ugandan shillings)
Reporting by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by George Obulutsa, Angus MacSwan and Michael Perry
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