Namibia's cyber security landscape experienced a mixed trend in 2026, with significant improvements in the first quarter followed by a sharp reversal in the second quarter. According to NAM-CSIRT, detected cyber vulnerabilities across Namibia fell by 31.3% in Q1 2026, while reported cyber threat events dropped by 47.3%. This improvement was attributed to sustained monitoring efforts, increased cyber security awareness, proactive threat mitigation measures, and improved cyber hygiene practices among organisations and critical infrastructure operators.
The positive trend in Q1 was marred by a significant increase in cyber vulnerabilities and threat events in Q2 2026. NAM-CSIRT recorded 513,921 cyber vulnerabilities, a 39.8% increase from Q1, and 161,547 cyber events, up 56.7%. Exposed remote management services and legacy protocols continued to dominate the risk landscape, with open CWMP, NTP version reports, accessible Telnet, open SNMP, and open DNS servers being the most prevalent issues.
The growing stakes for critical national infrastructure were highlighted in Q1 2026 when a cyber security incident at the Namibia Airports Company (NAC) involved unauthorised access to internal systems and the alleged exfiltration of about 500GB of data by the INC Ransomware Group. Although airport operations, safety, and security were not affected, the breach served as a stark reminder of the need for strong controls, continuous monitoring, and coordinated incident response.
NAM-CSIRT hosted a four-day DNS Resilience Training in Windhoek in February 2026, facilitated by the Cybersecurity Capacity Centre for Southern Africa (C3SA). The session brought together stakeholders from nine SADC countries to strengthen DNS security awareness, resilience, and cross-border collaboration. The training aimed to enhance the capacity of participants to prevent and respond to DNS-related cyber threats.
In response to the evolving threat landscape, Namibia launched the National Cybersecurity Incident Management Guidelines 2026 on 29 April 2026 in Ondangwa. The guidelines promote a proactive, risk-based approach and align with international standards such as ISO/IEC 27001 and the NIST Cybersecurity Framework. The framework aims to strengthen detection, reporting, response, and coordination of cyber incidents across all sectors.
CRAN's Chief Executive Officer, Emilia Nghikembua, emphasised that the Q2 increase in vulnerabilities and events is a reminder that threats "remain persistent and continue to evolve." Nghikembua urged organisations to take proactive steps to address exposed services, protect digital identities, apply security updates timeously, and report incidents early. The effectiveness of the guidelines will depend on their adoption and implementation across sectors.
The reports from NAM-CSIRT converge on a few practical messages, including the need to secure remote management and legacy services, and to address weak passwords, reused credentials, unpatched devices, and susceptibility to phishing and social engineering. NAM-CSIRT and CRAN urge both organisations and individuals to adopt good cyber hygiene practices, including strong and unique passwords, regular updates, multi-factor authentication, and heightened awareness of phishing and other social engineering attacks.
Key points
- Namibia's cyber defences showed improvement in Q1 2026 but faced a sharp reversal in Q2.
- The country launched the National Cybersecurity Incident Management Guidelines 2026 to strengthen detection, reporting, response, and coordination of cyber incidents.
- Organisations and individuals are urged to adopt good cyber hygiene practices to mitigate the risks of cyber threats.
