Lesotho launches its first national cybersecurity team 🛡️🇱🇸

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Lesotho’s government has officially launched its national Computer Security Incident Response Team, or CSIRT, the country announced on Wednesday, July 29. The initiative is part of a broader strategy to secure the country’s digital infrastructure and support the growth of its digital economy.

Securing the country’s digital future 🌐

Officials say the initiative is meant to strengthen the security of national digital infrastructure, protect electronic payment systems, and build an environment that encourages innovation and investment.

In practice, a CSIRT is a body tasked with preventing, detecting, and managing cybersecurity incidents. It monitors cyber threats, detects and analyzes attacks, and coordinates the response across the different stakeholders involved.

The team also shares threat intelligence, issues alerts and guidance, and provides technical support to organizations hit by an incident — while working with counterpart teams abroad to strengthen collective resilience against cyberattacks.

African governments are moving ⚠️

The launch comes as digital transformation accelerates across Africa, alongside a corresponding rise in cyberattacks. In its Cybercrime Africa Cyberthreat Assessment 2025, Interpol points to the growth of social media, e-commerce, and mobile banking as key drivers of this shift.

The organization also notes that cybercriminals are constantly refining their methods, increasingly relying on social engineering, artificial intelligence, and messaging platforms to carry out more sophisticated attacks. It’s a trend pushing a growing number of African countries to stand up their own response teams.

Lesotho’s cyber maturity still has room to grow 📊

Against that backdrop, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) argues that governments need to strengthen their cybersecurity frameworks in order to fully capture the economic and social benefits of digital technologies.

In its Global Cybersecurity Index 2024, the ITU places Lesotho in Tier 4 — the second-lowest of five maturity tiers. The country scores best on cooperation, at 11.17 out of 20 points, but lags further behind on legal frameworks, technical measures, organizational capacity, and skills development. In other words: the CSIRT is a real first step, but Lesotho still has ground to cover.

So — should every African country have a national CSIRT to respond to cyberattacks? Let us know what you think, and why.