Libyan prosecutors have ordered the detention of the Information Security Officer and the Director of Information Technology at the Central Bank of Libya pending an investigation into a cyberattack that targeted the bank’s systems.
The Office of the Attorney General said the investigation focused on identifying the factors that enabled attackers to penetrate the bank’s data systems and gain control over parts of its digital operating environment.
According to a statement issued by the Attorney General’s Office, investigators found that the attackers exploited the credentials of a system administrator account to carry out thousands of unauthorised access attempts against the bank’s network infrastructure.
The statement said the attackers managed to establish a presence within the system for three days due to weaknesses in the security architecture in place at the time of the incident.
Investigators also identified failures in the implementation of information security procedures, including shortcomings in monitoring and responding to threat indicators that had already become visible during the attack.
The prosecution further cited the failure to react to an unexplained increase in data traffic volumes, which authorities believe should have triggered immediate security alerts and countermeasures.
As a result of these findings, prosecutors ordered the detention of the two senior technology officials while investigations continue.
The Central Bank of Libya first disclosed the cyber incident on 9 June, saying that some of its systems and technical services had been affected.
At the time, the bank announced that it had hired international cybersecurity companies and specialist experts to investigate both the attack itself and data that had allegedly appeared on the dark web.
On 23 June, the Central Bank announced that the incident had been contained, adding that investigations and technical assessments had found no confirmed evidence of any breach affecting customer accounts, balances, financial assets or banking operations linked to the institution or related financial entities.