Namibia is poised to deepen its technological partnership with Russia, focusing on digital government systems, cybersecurity, and telecommunications infrastructure.
This follows discussions on Monday during the 11th session of the Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Engagement.
Namibia is taking a major step toward strengthening its fight against cybercrime by aligning its domestic laws with new global standards to combat digital fraud, online exploitation, and cyber threats.
Hardap Governor Riaan McNab has called for all-sector cooperation to strengthen national resilience against cyber threats.
He made the remarks at a consultative workshop on the draft Cybercrime Bill held in Mariental, attended by stakeholders from both ||Kharas and Hardap.
Namibia has pledged to ratify the newly signed United Nations (UN) Convention against Cybercrime and incorporate its provisions into national law.
Namibia has recorded over one million cyber threats and more than one million system vulnerabilities between January and June 2025.
Information and Communication Technology Minister Emma Theofelus emphasised the importance of digital literacy in preventing risks associated with online activity.
The minister was speaking at the regional engagement on ICT development in Otjozondjupa.
In a related development, Paratus Namibia has confirmed that the hacking was carried out by the Akira cybercriminal group.
In a statement, the company says that approximately 84 Gigabytes of internal data had been compromised.
The Namibian government says that, apart from compromised information from the Ministry of Health and Social Services, no personal data has been leaked from the government's data centre.
The Head of the Computer Science Department at the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST), Edward Nepolo, says that the recent cyberattacks on Telecom Namibia serve as a wake-up call for Namibia.
Bank of Namibia Governor, Johannes ǃGawaxab, has urged banks to follow requirements and develop effective responses to cyberattacks or hacks.
While outlining the central bank's preparedness for such incidents, ǃGawaxab emphasised that these attacks are inevitable.
