Nairobi — NCBA Bank invested $5 million dollars (Sh644.5 million) in cyber security as cyber-attack threats over the last year.

The lender says the amount was primarily used in fortifying its fire walls amid spiraling cases of cyberthreat in the country.

Its managing director, John Gachora, said that the lender is keen on putting in the necessary infrastructure to combat such cases.

"We see this issue as a real problem across the banking industry, and because of that, it is important that, as a company, we put in the necessary infrastructure to deter such vulnerabilities," he said.

Cybersecurity threats have been on the rise in the country, with the latest data from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) capping the figures between March and June 2024 at 1.1 billion, representing a 16.5 percent growth from 971.4 million during a similar period last year.

According to CA, the most targeted systems included operating systems, database servers, web applications, remote access systems, as well as network devices.

"Majority of the attacks were targeted at organisations within the ICT sector. Attackers targeted database servers and operating systems belonging to Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and cloud-based services," said CA in a report released earlier.