The website of GTBank, one of Nigeria’s largest commercial banks, suddenly became inaccessible on Wednesday, leading many to believe that hackers had seized control of the site.
However as concerns grow that hackers might have seized the website and the downtime extended on to Thursday, GTBank is yet to issue a statement to reassure customers or explain the massive downtime.
The confusion began when the GTBank website, known as gtbank.com, became unreachable late Wednesday night.
This disruption followed the recent renewal of the bank’s domain name, which was extended for another five years starting from August 13, 2024, according to online domain trackers.
A review of the bank’s X.com handle, @gtbank, reveals that no updates have been issued by the bank.
In the absence of any official statement from GTBank, speculations quickly spread. Some reports suggested that hackers had potentially created a fake version of the website to deceive customers and steal their sensitive information.
This type of cybercrime, known as phishing, involves fraudulently obtaining personal details from unsuspecting users.
A cybersecurity expert familiar with the banking sector in Nigeria commented that the issue might involve compromised login credentials rather than the actual domain name being stolen or sold.
Despite the website’s inaccessibility, the expert noted that GTBank’s mobile banking apps, available on both Android and iOS platforms, were still functioning normally.
The incident raised concerns among the bank’s millions of customers across Nigeria and other African countries.
Social media platforms were abuzz with comments from customers who were unable to access the GTBank website and feared their personal information might be at risk.
As of Thursday, no hacker group has yet claimed responsibility for the disruption. This lack of a claim has added to the uncertainty surrounding the incident, leading many to speculate about the true cause of the website’s unavailability.
As of the latest update, GTBank has not issued an official statement or further details regarding the incident.
The bank’s response to the situation is awaited to provide more clarity on the matter and reassure customers about the safety of their personal information.
In recent times, cybersecurity threats have become increasingly common, particularly in the financial sector.
Banks and other financial institutions are frequently targeted by cybercriminals seeking to exploit vulnerabilities and gain unauthorised access to sensitive data.
