The Central Bank of Gambia has been hacked with the perpetrators demanding $2.5 million ransom from government.

The hacking is reported to have happened  over the weekend and that The Gambia government had tried to keep the embarrassing situation from the public.

However, the hacking incident was leaked to the press. It’s not clear though who was behind.

The government spokesman Ebrima G Sankareh confirmed the hacking incident on the nation’s top bank. 

“The bank acted promptly to secure its systems and began an investigation to determine the nature, source, and extent of the incident,” Mr Sankareh said.

According to him, none of the mission-critical systems were compromised, and normal operations have continued unabated.

“Preliminary investigations showed that one server was affected which was promptly isolated from the bank’s network and a recovery process set in motion.  

“The authorities are keeping the matter under close monitoring and the public is hereby, reassured that the bank is fully operational and will continue to ensure the stability of the national payment systems. There is, therefore, no need for panic,” he added.

Reporting by Adama Makasuba