Mauritius is strengthening its National Cyber Resiliency Posture

Over the past years, the Ministry of Technology, Communication and Information of Mauritius (MTCI) has been taking various initiatives to strengthen the country's Cyber Resiliency posture.

The Data Protection Act 2004, which protects personal data, has been amended in order to cater for the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (EU-GDPR) and promulgated to the Data Protection Act 2017.

Proposals have been submitted for the amendment of the Computer Misuse and Cyber Crime Act of 2003 (CMCA) to provide legal mandate to the Computer Emergency Response Team of Mauritius (CERT-MU) to operate as a separate legal entity. The newly incorporated CERT-MU will be authorized to monitor, collect data as well as be empowered to act as a watchdog on Critical Information Infrastructure Protection.

This proposed new role for CERT-MU is an important evolution from its current role which is merely advisory in nature to oversee the national cyber security issues. CERT-MU will advise the government on the development and implementation of cybersecurity polices, frameworks and cyber security best practices; promote cybersecurity at national level, interact with other bodies/organizations/individuals to share information and assist in cybercrime investigations; and act as an authority to monitor and collect traffic data or information for cybersecurity; among others.

Furthermore, the proposal to amend the existing CMCA is to make it an adequate and efficient legislation on cybercrime and electronic evidence which allows proper prosecution and adjudication of cases related to cybercrime.

These major initiatives will strengthen Mauritius’ National Cyber Security Posture and sustain its predominant position as ranked 1st in Africa by The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in its Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) 2017 and 6th globally for the same index.

Since September 2016, BIRGER. monitors the cyber threat landscape of the Indian Ocean Islands and East Africa through its Cyber Defense Centre located in Phoenix, Mauritius. BIRGER. also gathers intelligence by carrying out annual surveys and publishing its Cyber Security Index (CYIndex). BIRGER.'s CYIndex provides an overview on the Cyber Resiliency Posture of public and private institutions. Results of CYIndex published in November 2017 can be accessed here.

In September 2016, BIRGER. launched the first Cyber Defense Center (CDC) in Africa to provide integrated SOC (Security Operations Center) services along with a complete set of new service offerings. Leveraging on its strategic partnerships with renowned technology vendors, BIRGER. is able to offer 24/7 security monitoring, vulnerability management/assessments and penetration testing through its CDC and other services such as security consultancy, auditing, awareness and training.

In November 2017, BIRGER. inaugurated its new recovery center at Phoenix, which is dedicated to Disaster Recovery (DR) and Business Continuity Management (BCM) Services. 

References:

• Click here to find more on the Alignment of Computer Misuse and Cybercrime Act 2003
• Click here for the publication on Cyber security - Mauritius ranks 6th worldwide and 1st in Africa
• Click here to download the ITU GCI 2017
• Click here to download the Mauritius Cyber Crime Strategy 2017 - 2019 

For more information on the topic and our Resiliency Solutions & Services, please contact us by email resiliency@birger.technology. 

BIRGER.