Sierra Leone — Cyber Threat Profile

Sierra Leone's cyber framework rests on the Cyber Security and Crime Act, 2021 (Act 7 of 2021), assented to on 15 November 2021 and published on 25 November 2021. The National Security Policy and Strategy launched on 8 August 2024 set out a three-tier cyber governance structure: a National Cybersecurity Advisory Council, a middle-level technical working group of experts drawn from key institutions, and a national cyber security centre to coordinate operations at the lower level. Operational incident response is recent — the National Cybersecurity Coordination Centre (NC3), which hosts the national CSIRT, launched that team alongside a National Digital Forensics Lab in January 2025, having grown from a small cybersecurity unit inside the Ministry of Information and Communication six years earlier. The Sierra Leone Digital Transformation Project is a 50 million USD World Bank-funded initiative supporting broadband expansion, digital skills and stronger government systems, and includes work on strengthening cybersecurity. Documented exposure is concentrated in consumer mobile and digital fraud — the Ministry of Communication, Technology and Innovation led a two-day workshop on 18 to 19 August 2026 to validate Sierra Leone's National Roadmap to Combat Mobile and Digital Fraud, and NC3's director of cyber resilience has said WhatsApp account takeovers remain significantly underreported in the country. A data protection law is still pending: Cabinet approved a national data protection policy on 21 April 2026 and authorised the Ministry of Information and Civic Education to finalise and table a Data Protection and Right to Access Information Bill in Parliament.

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