What You Need to Know
The Mozambican government has proposed a cyber security law to Parliament aimed at enhancing the protection of the state and its citizens against growing cyber threats. The law includes the establishment of regulatory bodies and imposes fines for violations, ensuring a secure digital environment to attract investment and bolster e-commerce.
Africa-Press – Mozambique. The Mozambican government on Thursday asked Parliament to approve the cyber security law, which provides for a regulator to supervise and sanction offences with fines of up to 160 minimum wages, ensuring the security of the State, networks and computer systems.
In the explanatory document of the proposal, currently under debate in the Mozambican Parliament, the Government acknowledges “growing challenges” in the digital landscape, stating that concrete measures are needed to counter threats.
“Given the transnational nature and rapid evolution of cybercrime, it is evident in the country that there is an increase in crimes related to computer forgery, computer fraud, abuse of electronic payment methods, computer and communications fraud, unlawful recordings, unlawful access, violation of correspondence, email compromise, digital extortion, theft of fluids, and invasion of privacy,” the document states.
The Government argues that the law will protect the State and its institutions, citizens, information systems, data communication networks and critical infrastructure, ensuring a secure, reliable and resilient cyberspace, and creating a safe digital environment to attract foreign investment and stimulate e-commerce.
The bill, defended today by the Minister of Communications and Digital Transformation, Américo Muchanga, provides for the creation of the National Cyber Security Council (CNSC), the National Cyber Security Authority and a National Cyber Security Incident Response Team.
The National Cyber Security Council, to be chaired by the Prime Minister, will be responsible for ensuring political and strategic coordination for the security of the cyberspace, preparing reports assessing the implementation of the national strategy for the sector, and issuing opinions on these matters.
The National Cyber Security Authority will regulate, supervise, monitor and apply sanctions, ensure that the country uses cyberspace in a free, reliable and secure manner, as well as register and licence service providers, audit entities within the cyber security system, and accredit service providers and their professionals.
This body will also define measures to anticipate cyberattacks, protect critical infrastructure, set the national alert level, issue cyber security instructions, alert the Government to major threats in cyberspace, and establish codes of conduct, standards and norms in the field of security aligned with national and international practices. The document specifies that breaches of the rules will be punishable by fines ranging from one to 160 minimum public sector wages.
In this area, Minister Muchanga explained that “public administration institutions will be required to create institutional ‘sunsets’” for the mandatory establishment of incident response teams. They will also be required to appoint officials responsible for ensuring compliance with cyber security rules within institutions and responding in the event of incidents.
These institutions will be required to immediately report any cyber incident, according to the proposal, which aims to increase resilience of state infrastructure, ensure service continuity and significantly reduce security risks.
The private sector, the minister explained, will be required to adopt technical and organisational measures to protect its information networks and systems, and to create an institutional information security policy with risk management procedures.
The law also provides for the creation of a cyber security fund to ensure that institutions providing critical services have the technical, institutional and human resources capacity to deal with cyber incidents. The fund, the minister said, will be autonomous, financed through the State Budget, fees charged by the authority, and fines collected. It will also be used for training cyber security specialists, investing in technological innovation and strengthening incident response capacity.
In recent years, Mozambique has faced increasing challenges related to cybercrime, prompting the government to take action. The proposed cyber security law is a response to the evolving digital landscape and aims to create a robust framework for protecting critical infrastructure and information systems. By establishing regulatory bodies and implementing strict measures, the government seeks to enhance national security and foster a safer online environment for citizens and businesses alike. This initiative reflects a broader trend in many countries to strengthen cyber defenses amid rising global cyber threats.
