Dr. Younes Abu Shaiba, Professor of Economics at the Faculty of Economics and Political Science, told our source that in the digital age, central banks are no longer merely repositories of liquidity; they have become the nerve centers of national economies, managing vast volumes of transactions and connecting countries to the global financial system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He noted that on June 16, 2026<\/strong>, Naji Issa, Governor of the Central Bank of Libya, publicly announced from Tripoli, during the Libya International Electronic Payments Exhibition (IBEX 2026), that the Bank\u2019s electronic infrastructure had been subjected to a major cyberattack involving ransomware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Abu Shaiba, ransomware attacks are considered among the most damaging threats to critical infrastructure. Such attacks may go beyond encrypting systems and demanding payment, potentially involving the theft of sensitive data before systems are locked\u2014a tactic known as \u201cdouble extortion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He argued that the Governor\u2019s reference to similar attacks affecting major institutions worldwide, including global banks and government agencies, was intended to place the incident in its international context and help preserve public confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Abu Shaiba emphasized that the most significant aspect of the incident was not the attack itself, but the Bank\u2019s response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He highlighted the Governor\u2019s statement that the Bank\u2019s most important decision was to completely isolate the compromised infrastructure and build a separate new environment. In cybersecurity practice, this containment strategy is considered one of the most decisive methods for preventing attackers from moving through a network and for eliminating the risk of hidden malicious software remaining active within systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Abu Shaiba, the possibility that the attack may have involved a previously implanted threat raises concerns associated with Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), which often require lengthy forensic investigations to uncover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He noted that while comparable attacks have left major institutions struggling for weeks or months, the Central Bank reportedly restored approximately 80% of its critical systems<\/strong>, including real-time settlement, clearing, and personal payment services, within just four days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Abu Shaiba stated that, according to international banking standards, such a recovery timeline suggests not only technical competence but also the existence of effective business continuity planning and secure backup systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite praising the technical recovery effort, Abu Shaiba argued that restoring systems is only part of the challenge. Rebuilding trust is equally important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He warned that interruptions in central banking systems can undermine confidence in the national currency and contribute to increased reliance on foreign currencies, a phenomenon often referred to as spontaneous dollarization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the international level, he noted that a successful ransomware attack against a central bank constitutes a significant security event. He cautioned that uncertainty regarding the origin and scope of the breach could prompt foreign correspondent banks to reassess their relationships with affected institutions as part of their risk-management obligations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To illustrate the point, he cited the 2016 cyberattack on the Bangladesh Bank, which resulted in the theft of $81 million through the SWIFT system and led to extensive international scrutiny and reforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He also referenced the experiences of the European Central Bank and the Ukrainian central bank, arguing that transparency and international cooperation are critical factors in maintaining credibility after cyber incidents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Abu Shaiba concluded that the June 2026 incident demonstrated the capabilities of the Central Bank of Libya\u2019s technical teams, describing the rapid rebuilding of critical digital infrastructure as a significant achievement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, he argued that cybersecurity is ultimately not only a technical issue but also a governance issue. Drawing on international research and institutional analyses, he stated that lasting resilience requires stronger governance, institutional unity, and independent cybersecurity audits whose findings are publicly disclosed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Abu Shaiba, without addressing institutional fragmentation and enhancing transparency, even exceptional technical successes may remain temporary achievements rather than long-term solutions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Dr. Younes Abu Shaiba, Professor of Economics at the Faculty of Economics and Political Science, told our source that in the digital age, central banks are no longer merely repositories of liquidity; they have become the nerve centers of national economies, managing vast volumes of transactions and connecting countries to the global financial system. He […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":257402,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[613],"class_list":["post-257401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-libya"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sada.ly\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sada.ly\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sada.ly\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sada.ly\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sada.ly\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=257401"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sada.ly\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257401\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":257403,"href":"https:\/\/sada.ly\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257401\/revisions\/257403"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sada.ly\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/257402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sada.ly\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=257401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sada.ly\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=257401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sada.ly\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=257401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The Response Was the Real Story<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Rapid Recovery<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Governance and Confidence<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Conclusion<\/h3>\n\n\n\n