Government has hinted on fighting against cybercrime tooth and nail amid a rise in reported cases across the country.

Minister of Information Moses Kunkuyu said the rise in such criminality is progressive development and that authorities need to head up efforts in dealing with cybercrime.

He said: “It’s not necessarily a question of failing to bring to book or to contain cybercrimes, but this kind of criminality is a progressive thing, it is something that is developing on almost daily basis.”

Kunkuyu, who was speaking in parliament on Friday upon the House passing the Electronic Transactions and Cyber Security Amendment Bill, said instituting such legislation is a right step towards tracking the vice.

“All we need to do is to up our game in terms of putting mechanisms and legal frameworks that will help to not only track those that are committing these crimes, but also put punitive penalties.

“And what we have done in passing this data protection bill is a step towards that direction where we won’t only be able to protect the debtor subjects, but also to punish those that will be found to be committing crimes like cybercrimes,” Kunkuyu said.

This Bill seeks to amend the Electronic Transactions and Cyber Security Act in order to repeal Part VII as a consequential amendment following the enactment of the Data Protection Bill, 2023 which provides for a comprehensive legal framework for the regulation of the processing and movement of personal data of natural persons, in compliance with internationally accepted principles of data protection.