World Watch/Eritrea/Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity · Eritrea

Cybersecurity regulation in Eritrea (2026)

Sectoral rulesCommunications Proclamation No. 102/1998; Eritrean Telecommunications Services Corporation Proclamation No. 134/2003; reported Cybercrime Proclamation No. 125/2019 — no comprehensive cybersecurity law or data protection statuteCountry index 48 · D

Eritrea shaded by its cybersecurity status

Eritrea has no comprehensive cybersecurity law, no data protection legislation, and no published national cybersecurity strategy. Its cybersecurity-relevant legal instruments are limited to older telecommunications statutes governing the state-controlled telecom monopoly and a reported (but officially unverified) 2019 cybercrime proclamation. Eritrea is not party to the Budapest Convention or the AU Malabo Convention on Cyber Security, and no sector-specific breach-notification or incident-reporting obligations have been identified.

Key points

No comprehensive cybersecurity law

Eritrea has not enacted a standalone national cybersecurity or information-security law. The ITU CyberWellness country profile and DataGuidance both confirm the absence of dedicated cybersecurity legislation, and Eritrea does not appear in the ITU National Cybersecurity Strategies Repository.

Foundational telecom statutes (1998–2003)

The principal in-force instruments are Communications Proclamation No. 102/1998 and Eritrean Telecommunications Services Corporation Proclamation No. 134/2003, both confirmed by the ITU legislation repository and the US Library of Congress. These govern the EriTel state monopoly but impose only minimal security obligations.

Reported Cybercrime Proclamation (2019)

Secondary sources reference a Cybercrime Proclamation No. 125/2019 covering hacking, online fraud, data breaches, and malware; however, this instrument does not appear in major intergovernmental databases or official government portals and should be treated with caution pending official confirmation.

No data protection law or breach-notification regime

Eritrea has enacted no data protection statute; personal data is not legally defined, no supervisory authority exists, and there are no formal breach-notification or incident-reporting requirements on any sector. Data Protection Africa confirms this gap as of its latest fact sheet.

No national cybersecurity strategy or dedicated agency

Eritrea has not published a national cybersecurity strategy and has not established a dedicated national cybersecurity authority or CERT. The ITU CyberWellness profile notes the absence of any national governance roadmap for cybersecurity.

Not party to international cybersecurity conventions

Eritrea has not signed or ratified the Council of Europe Budapest Convention on Cybercrime. It has also not ratified the African Union Convention on Cyber Security and Personal Data Protection (Malabo Convention), which entered into force in June 2023 but has been ratified by only a minority of AU member states.

Eritrea - other topics

Last verified 5/24/2026 · Orientation, not legal advice - verify against the primary sources linked above. Explore the full world map →