September 3, 18:15UzDaily

Uzbekistan ranks third in Central Asia for data leak volume

According to the F6 report for the period 2025–2026, Uzbekistan recorded approximately 15 million compromised data records obtained from leaks of corporate and government databases. This figure places Uzbekistan third in Central Asia in terms of leak volume, behind Tajikistan and Kazakhstan.

Globally, the cybersecurity firm F6 discovered over 600 million compromised user records across 164 database leak publications. Of these, 91 databases were freely posted on hacker forums and Telegram channels, while 73 were offered for sale.

Central Asian countries collectively accounted for 257 million compromised records, which is more than a third of the total global volume. Tajikistan leads the region with the highest number of leaks—approximately 217 million records, accounting for 84 percent of the total in Central Asia, mainly due to a major incident in the public sector.

Kazakhstan ranked second with approximately 25 million records (10 percent), while Uzbekistan registered 15 million records, corresponding to 6 percent of the regional volume.

The distribution by the number of leak publications differed from the distribution by the total volume of records. Kazakhstan led the region by publishing 57 percent of all leak reports, followed by Uzbekistan with 29 percent, and Tajikistan with 14 percent.

By industry, the compromised records in Central Asia overwhelmingly (96 percent) belong to the public sector, driven by a major hack in Tajikistan. The second most significant sector is education, which accounted for 3 percent of compromised records, with most of this figure related to platform breaches in Kazakhstan, involving 8.5 million records.

Regarding publication frequency, the public sector provided 43 percent of all leak reports, surpassing education (29 percent) and the financial sector (28 percent).

Lada Kryukova, Head of Research and Monitoring at F6, noted that while a single large leak can skew regional statistics, regular small breaches pose equal risks to citizens and businesses. The cybersecurity company advised organizations to strengthen data protection, conduct security assessments, monitor compromised credentials, and implement incident response plans to mitigate the consequences of hacks.

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uzdaily.uzSeptember 4, 09:45

33,392 transactions registered through escrow accounts in Uzbekistan in August

According to data from the Central Bank of Uzbekistan, a total of 33,392 real estate and vehicle purchase and sale transactions were processed through escrow accounts in Uzbekistan in August 2026.

Of the total number of transactions, 17,807 concerned vehicles, accounting for 53.3%, while 15,585 transactions were related to real estate, or 46.7%. At the end of the month, another 4,346 transactions were still being processed.

Tashkent showed the highest activity, registering 10,487 transactions, which is equivalent to 31.4% of the national volume. The Fergana region recorded 3,245 transactions, followed by the Samarkand region with 2,941 transactions and the Andijan region with 2,395 transactions.

Escrow operations in Uzbekistan are regulated by a new decree that came into force on April 1, establishing rules for electronic data exchange between banks and notaries. This regulation applies to real estate, as well as vehicles of categories M, N, O, and G, no older than 10 years, and special vehicles.

According to the established procedure, payment for such transactions must be made exclusively through escrow accounts, with funds transferred to the seller only after the contract has been notarized. Before finalizing the transaction, the notary is obliged to use an automated system to verify the availability of sufficient funds in the escrow account; if funds are unavailable or the account is closed, the notary has the right to refuse to formalize the contract.

If the transaction involves payments to multiple sellers or their representatives, the corresponding information is prepared separately for each recipient. Oversight of compliance with this regulation is carried out by the Ministry of Justice and the Central Bank. Violations of the established requirements entail legal liability.

uzdaily.uzAugust 28, 12:00

Rating of Banks in Uzbekistan by Cards, Terminals, and ATMs as of August 1, 2026

According to data from the Central Bank of Uzbekistan, as of August 1, 2026, there were 75,686,915 bank cards in circulation in the country, 453,471 POS terminals installed, and 47,009 ATMs and info kiosks. During the period from January to July 2026, 387.4 billion UZS passed through the country's payment terminals.

Bank Cards in Circulation

Xalq banki is the leader among banks in terms of the number of issued bank cards, having issued over 12.1 million cards, which accounts for more than 16% of the total number in circulation in the country, which reached 75.7 million cards. Uzum Bank is in second place with 7.2 million cards, and Agrobank is third with 6.8 million cards.

Among the five banks holding top positions by the number of issued cards are also Ipoteka-bank (5.7 million) and Hamkorbank (5.2 million). Among the banks with the fewest cards are Soderot bank (3,020 cards), Madad Invest bank (15,183), and APEX BANK (38,765).

Payment Terminals

Hamkorbank leads in the number of installed POS terminals with 68,301 devices. Following them are Milliy bank (42,523), Xalq banki (34,176), O'zsanoatqurilishbanki (31,834), and Ipoteka-bank (26,445). The lowest number of terminals was registered by Soderot bank (27 terminals), TBC bank (41), and Open Bank (106).

ATMs and Info Kiosks

In the segment of ATMs and info kiosks (excluding non-bank payment organizations), Xalq banki ranks first with 3,136 units. It is followed by Agrobank (1,823), Kapitalbank (1,669), Invest Finance bank (1,426), and Milliy bank (1,164). TBC bank (1), Soderot bank (2), and Ziraat Bank Uzbekistan (8) have the minimum number of devices.

Turnover via Payment Terminals

Aloqabank became the leader in turnover through payment terminals for the period from January to July 2026 with an amount of 41.1 billion UZS. The top five leaders also include Milliy bank (32.2 billion), TBC bank (25.2 billion), Hamkorbank (22.6 billion), and Ipak Yo'li banki (21.3 billion). The lowest turnover was recorded by Tayanch microfinance bank (8.3 million UZS), YANGI BANK (35.8 million), and Madad Invest bank (146.3 million).