NigeriaCybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015, unlawful access to a computer
Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015, s. 6 (unlawful access to a computer)
archived copy
Read from a public archive copy, not the publisher directly. The publisher does not serve this page to automated readers, so a direct fetch was not an option here; how we access sources. Archived 2023. Publisher's page: https://www.cert.gov.ng/ngcert/resources/CyberCrime__Prohibition_Prevention_etc__Act__2015.pdfIn force.
A computer misuse rule binding public and private bodies.
- How the hook was established
- express
- What makes it apply
- Operator establishment, User location, Data subject residence
- Audit expectation
- none
What it requires
- Do not intentionally access a computer system or network without authorisation for a fraudulent purpose in order to obtain data vital to national security.
- Reading a public, unauthenticated page for an ordinary business purpose has not itself been held by a reported Nigerian decision to violate this provision, and section 6(1)'s own text conditions the offence on a fraudulent purpose and national-security data.
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
In the frameworks
- NIST AI RMF
- MAP 4.1Approaches for mapping AI technology and legal risks of its components – including the use of third-party data or software – are in place, followed, and documented, as are risks of infringement of a third party’s intellectual property or other rights.
Our reading of where this law's duties sit in each framework. It never says that running a control meets the law. How we read a framework against the law
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Private right of actionNo
Criminal exposure note
A fine of not more than N5,000,000 or imprisonment for not more than five years, or both, for the base offence (s. 6(1)); a fine of not more than N7,000,000 or imprisonment for not more than seven years, or both, where the aggravating intent in subsection (2) is present.
Penalty structure
The higher of two fixed-fine ceilings set by section 6: N5,000,000 for the base offence under subsection (1), N7,000,000 where the aggravating intent in subsection (2) is present. Each tier also permits imprisonment instead of or in addition to the fine, up to the same tiered maximum terms.
- Rule
- Fixed only
- As of
- Currency
- NGN
- Fixed cap
- 7,000,000
What it makes you log
Logging duty
Section 6(1) to (4) makes it an offence to access a computer system or network without authorization for fraudulent purposes and obtain data vital to national security, to do so to obtain data, programs or commercial or industrial secrets, to use a device to avoid detection while committing the offence, and to traffic in passwords. It imposes no duty to create, keep, produce or review a log or record. The cybercafe user register in section 7 and the records retention and data protection duty in section 38 are not cited by this row. Section 50(1) gives the Federal High Court jurisdiction over offences under the Act committed in Nigeria, by a citizen or resident of Nigeria, or abroad where the victim is a citizen or resident of Nigeria.
- Kind
- None
- As of
What this law does
Section 6(1) makes it an offence for any person, without authorisation, to intentionally access in whole or in part a computer system or network for a fraudulent purpose and to obtain data vital to national security, punishable by imprisonment for not more than five years or a fine of not more than N5,000,000, or both.
Section 6(2) raises the penalty to imprisonment for not more than seven years or a fine of not more than N7,000,000, or both, where the access is committed with the intent of obtaining computer data, securing access to a program, or obtaining commercial, industrial, or classified information.
Section 6(1)'s own text conditions the offence on a fraudulent purpose and on the data obtained being vital to national security, so a plain reading of that subsection does not reach ordinary scraping of a public, unauthenticated page absent both elements; section 6(2)'s aggravated form reaches a wider set of intents but is only reached once subsection (1)'s unauthorised-access element is made out. No reported Nigerian decision has applied section 6 to a scraper.
Section 2(2)(a) of the Interpretation Act provides that, where no other provision is made as to the time when an enactment is to come into force, an enactment contained in an Act of the National Assembly comes into force on the day when the Act is passed. Under section 2(1) of the Interpretation Act, an Act is passed when the President assents to the Bill for the Act.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app crawls the web or trains models.
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