On March 23, Zambian President Edgar Lungu ratified a draft law on cybersecurity and cybercrime. The reactions of Zambians are mixed.
On March 23, a bill on cybersecurity and cybercrime was ratified by the President of Zambia. Edgar Lungu believes that this law will allow better use of the internet in Zambia and that it is designed only to protect citizens from abuse.
The Zambian leader said the law aims to protect all Zambians, including those who are fiercely opposed to it. “I couldn't have signed it if I wasn't convinced that it was for the good of all Zambians,” he said.
The objectives of the law are to ensure Zambia's cybersecurity and to provide online protection for children. The law also provides for the protection of individuals against cybercrime, by facilitating the identification, reporting and protection of information infrastructures.
Something to worry about. Used for other purposes, these tools could just as easily censor or spy on Zambians.
The text provides in particular for the collection of personal data, as well as the review of the admission in criminal matters of electronic evidence, which can only be verified when the prosecution obtains it by its own means.
$ 4 million lost in 2010
Hundreds of millions of cyber attacks occur every year in Africa and billions of dollars are embezzled by offenders, who go undetected and go unpunished. Zambia, in particular, is losing millions of dollars to hacking. A problem, particularly for the Zambian banking sector. Zambian banks have not been immune from cyberattacks in recent years.
According to a 2016 cyberattack study, “Zambia lost up to $ 4 million in a year about six years ago, at the hands of cybercriminals who hacked bank documents with the help of local and international cartels ". The rise of mobile banking popularly known as Airtel of MTN money has increased the threat of cybercrime, according to the study.
Other African countries such as Côte d'Ivoire recently registered around 1 complaints of cyber attacks in court in one year. South Africa is even more affected, more than 300% of South Africans have been victims of cybercrime. South African businesses lost more than $ 70 million in 500 alone.