Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) have transformed the lives of Batswana. They have had positive impact on the economy, enabling its growth and efficiencies on service delivery. Through the envisaged National Broadband Strategy (NBS), the Government of Botswana would like to further enhance the role of ICT, particularly cyberspace in socio-economic and political aspects of the country. However, the Government is conscious of the risks, threats and vulnerabilities to the citizens and the country posed by misuse of cyberspace. It is for this reason that the Government, working in concert with the private sector, developed a National Cybersecurity Strategy to provide a framework for a secure cyberspace in Botswana. The Strategy is aimed at the public, to raise awareness and build capacity among them to safeguard against cyber threats, for the industry and Government to always be prepared to prevent, defend and act against any cyber-attacks.
The development of the National Cybersecurity Strategy (NCS) will enable the Government of Botswana and other stakeholders, to establish appropriate measures that will ensure Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability (CIA) of networks, systems and data of the information communicated, processed and stored through electronic or equivalent means. Because cyber-attacks are not limited by national boundaries, passing through multiple networks in different countries, it is important to engage with all relevant stakeholders in developing the National Cybersecurity Strategy. It is essential that cyber security requirements are ―bake it in‖ in initial design and development of the ICT systems rather than to be ―bolted on‖ at the later stage of the development cycle.
