Africa-Press – Mozambique. Cybercrimes in Mozambique increased by 16% last year, compared to 2023, warned deputy attorney general, Amabelia Chuquela, blaming the scenario with lack of resources and of public awareness of the problem.
“The crimes most often perpetrated are related to frauds involving electronic payment instruments and channels, but also to computer and communications fraud,” Chuquela told participants in a seminar on cybersecurity taking place in Maputo since Wednesday.
For the deputy attorney general, among the challenges faced by the country in stopping these crimes is the “insufficiency” of qualified human and technological resources, and also a lack of “public awareness and digital literacy”.
“In 2024, the Public Prosecutor’s Office processed 1,051 cases related to cybercrime, compared to 912 registered in 2023, with an increase of 149 cases, corresponding to 16%”, Chuquela stated.
Minister of Telecommunications and Digital Transformation of Mozambique, Américo Muchanga, said at the same seminar that artificial intelligence was currently widely used to perpetrate cybercrime in Mozambique.
“Artificial Intelligence, with all its transformative potential, has also been used by criminal networks to optimize fraud (…), manipulate data, circumvent the system and corrupt various information chains,” Muchanga said.
On March 28, Prime Minister Benvinda Levi revealed that Mozambique has 17 data centres, and promised that the government would review legislation on cybersecurity.
“Our country currently has 17 data centres, including this one owned by Vodacom Mozambique, which has just been inaugurated. The establishment of this data centre represents a significant achievement in our country’s journey towards digital transformation,” the minister said when inaugurating a data centre belonging to the multinational telecoms operator.
Levi also said that the government was “improving regulations in the area of digital transformation” to “establish a legal framework that responds to the new challenges arising from the rapid development of information and communication technologies”.
“Regulatory provisions relating to cyber security, cybercrimes, data protection, development, contracting and operation of cloud computing services, among others, are being drafted. By drafting these instruments, we aim to provide our country with an increasingly robust and secure digital ecosystem aligned with global best practices, as well as to encourage investment in this sector, which is rapidly developing,” the prime minister said.
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