Corporate
Uganda Bankers’ Association and Visa Host Cybersecurity Workshop to Combat Rising Cyber Threats
Uganda Bankers’ Association (UBA), in partnership with Visa, a global leader in digital payments, hosted a strategic half-day Cybersecurity workshop aimed at strengthening the financial sector’s defences against increasingly sophisticated cybercrime.
Under the theme, “Cyber Threats, Smarter Defences: Strengthening Uganda’s Fight Against Cyber Crime,” the workshop took place on August 20, 2025, at the Sheraton Hotel.
The event is a direct response to the escalating cyber threats targeting financial institutions and their customers in Uganda. These threats, fueled by advanced social engineering, digital tools, and insider access, require a coordinated, well-informed, and proactive approach that goes beyond traditional security measures.
The workshop brought together a diverse and high-level audience, including heads of risk, fraud, cybersecurity, and IT from UBA member Institutions, payment service providers, financial sector regulators, law enforcement, and international experts from VISA. This cross-sector collaboration is essential for building a unified front against cybercriminals.
“Cybercrime is a shared threat that demands shared attention,” said Mr. Wilbrod Humphreys Owor, UBA’s Executive Director. “This workshop provided a vital platform for our industry to share intelligence, learn from real-life cases, and develop practical defence strategies. By working together, we can secure our systems and safeguard the trust of our customers.”
“At Visa, we believe that trust is the foundation of digital commerce. Strengthening cybersecurity across the financial ecosystem is not just a technical imperative; it’s a business and societal one. This workshop reflects our commitment to working hand-in-hand with partners like UBA to build resilience, share intelligence, and empower institutions to stay ahead of emerging threats,” said Chad Pollock, General Manager and Vice President, Visa East Africa.
Key topics that were explored:
The Global Cyber Threat Landscape: Examined international trends and lessons on resilience and incident response for Uganda’s financial sector.
Cyber Tactics & Threat Actors: A deep dive into prevalent fraud vectors like SIM swaps and phishing, with insights from national cybercrime response teams.
Cyber Defences in Action: Showcased how institutions were deploying AI, real-time analytics, and advanced authentication tools to detect and disrupt threats.
From Breach to Prosecution: A critical discussion on the legal aspects of cybercrime, including the capacity of courts to handle digital evidence.
The participants left the workshop with an improved understanding of advanced risk mitigation techniques, strengthened fraud management capacity, and clear action points for enhancing their institutional cybersecurity resilience.
The Cybersecurity workshop was a pivotal step towards fortifying Uganda’s financial ecosystem against digital attacks. It underscored the commitment of the UBA and its partners to fostering a secure and trustworthy environment for all financial services.
Meanwhile, Uganda Bankers’ Association: Uganda Bankers’ Association (UBA) is an umbrella organisation for financial institutions licensed and supervised by the Bank of Uganda. UBA was established in 1981 and is currently made up of 34 members comprising 23 commercial banks, 3 development banks (Uganda Development Bank, East African Development Bank & Afreximbank and 8 Tier 2 &Tier 3 (MDIs and MFIs).
While Visa: Visa (NYSE: V) is a world leader in digital payments, facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, convenient, reliable and secure payments network, enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. We believe that economies that include everyone everywhere, uplift everyone everywhere and see access as foundational to the future of money movement.
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