The director of the Security and Data Protection Division at the National Institute of Information and Communication Technologies (INTIC), Eugénio Jeremias, revealed that Mozambique still faces a legal vacuum in the area of financial data security and privacy. In his view, although there are regulations that help combat cyber attacks, ‘these are not mandatory and are therefore insufficient’.
According to a report in the newspaper O País, this information was shared during a technology forum held in Maputo on Thursday 6 June.
Eugénio Jeremias emphasised that ‘cyber attacks are one of the biggest problems the country has faced in recent years,’ and revealed that in 2023 alone, Mozambique suffered around 1.5 million cyber attacks per month, which shows the ‘urgency of establishing specific legislation to guarantee the security of financial data,’ he said.
As a solution to this problem, he emphasised the need to create specific legislation on cybersecurity. Eugénio Jeremias mentioned that, currently, issues related to data security in the financial sector are governed by regulations from the Bank of Mozambique. However, ‘these regulations are not sufficient to deal with the growing threat of cyber-attacks, making it essential to implement more robust and specific legislation,’ he said.
This legislative approach, as suggested by the source, ‘would provide more effective and mandatory protection, capable of minimising the risks and vulnerabilities associated with the security of financial data in Mozambique’.
