The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is developing a national cybersecurity framework to safeguard telecom infrastructure and enhance online safety.
The framework will launch in early 2026 to address emerging technology risks and improve Nigeria’s digital economy resilience.
The NCC disclosed this at a stakeholder engagement in Abuja, building on earlier consultations with industry players.
Supported by the World Bank, the framework will set minimum cybersecurity standards for operators and enhance collaboration between government and private sector actors.
Why it matters
Cyberattacks on Nigeria’s telecom sector are becoming more coordinated, targeting control systems and threatening critical operational technology.
In the first half of 2025, Nigeria recorded 1,844 Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks, according to NETSCOUT. The telecom sector was the most targeted, with peak attack bandwidth reaching 298 Gbps in February 2025.
The country also experienced the highest spike in cyberattacks in July 2025, which resulted in organizations facing 6,101 weekly cyberattacks.
These numbers validate the regulator’s intentions of raising the cybersecurity standards and practices in the telecom industry.
The NCC stated that the framework will undergo final consultations through 2025 before its rollout in 2026. It urged active stakeholder participation to refine strategies for incident reporting, risk management, and information sharing.
The initiative aligns with Nigeria’s Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2015 and the Nigerian Data Protection Act of 2023, ensuring stronger safeguards for critical sectors.
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