Cybersecurity · Somalia
Cybersecurity regulation in Somalia (2026)
Somalia shaded by its cybersecurity status
Somalia does not yet have a fully enacted comprehensive cybersecurity statute. A dedicated National Cybersecurity Law was approved by the lower house of the Federal Parliament on 26 January 2026 — designating the NCA as the top cybersecurity authority, creating the Somalia Computer Incident Response Team (SOM-CIRT), and imposing incident-reporting duties on critical-infrastructure operators — but full enactment (upper-house assent and presidential signature) was not confirmed. In the meantime, the in-force Data Protection Act 2023 already imposes a 72-hour personal-data-breach notification duty, and a separate Cybercrime Bill has been approved at Cabinet level.
Key points
On 26 January 2026 the House of the People of the Federal Parliament approved a Cybersecurity Bill establishing a national framework to prevent, report and respond to cyber incidents and protect critical digital infrastructure. It remains at the parliamentary-passage stage; full enactment (Senate/presidential assent) is not yet confirmed.
The law designates the National Communications Authority as the highest government body for cybersecurity governance, while policy responsibility sits with the Ministry of Communications and Technology and legal obligations fall on critical-infrastructure operators.
The framework creates the Somalia Computer Incident Response Team (SOM-CIRT), which receives and analyses cyber-incident reports, issues alerts/advisories, coordinates national response, and cooperates with international CERTs.
Operators of essential services and digital service providers are obliged to notify designated government authorities of cybersecurity incidents under the new framework.
The Data Protection Act No. 005 of 2023 (effective 23 March 2023) requires data controllers to notify the Somali Data Protection Authority of a personal-data breach posing risks to data subjects within 72 hours, and to keep breach records.
The Council of Ministers (Cabinet) approved a draft Cybercrime Bill to address digital security and criminal offences; it remains pending and is distinct from the National Cybersecurity Law.
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