“You can consider it a war”
Gezahegn Dugassa Leta, director for Banking Products and Technology Innovation at Awash International Bank, on Ethiopia Banking and ICT Summit, 2013, which was held at Sheraton Addis on August 2, 2013, referring to the challenges Ethiopia’s banking sector will face when it is fully engaged in internet and mobile banking. “You have to be ready well before you start it,” he added. The event was organized by Cyber Security Africa, a UK based digital security firm. Attendees saw different presentations that range from simple virus attacks to internet hacking, which also gave insights on possible threats on internet and mobile banking and the precautions that should be undertaken while engaging in e-banking. The event, brought together representatives from private and state banks in Ethiopia. There was also an exhibition in which the sponsors of the event including Ethiopian Airlines and Huawei Technologies Ethiopia, which recently sealed a deal with the the state monopoly for expansion of telecom services, participated.