Cybersecurity in Venezuela: a guide for companies

What corporate cybersecurity means in Venezuela

Corporate cybersecurity in Venezuela is the set of controls, processes and monitoring that protects an organization’s systems, data and operations against cyberattacks. It sits within the 2001 Special Law against Computer Crimes and, for banks, within the rules issued by SUDEBAN, the banking regulator.

Pressure on Venezuelan companies is high. According to Fortinet’s FortiGuard Labs, Venezuela received more than 11 billion attempted cyberattacks in 2023. Across Latin America, Kaspersky reported in September 2025 an 85% increase in blocked phishing attacks over the previous twelve months.

Recent attacks on Venezuelan organizations

Public incidents over recent months show that no sector is safe, and that the damage is measured in weeks of disrupted operations and exposed customer data.

• PDVSA, December 2025: the state oil company reported a cyberattack on its administrative systems. According to Bloomberg Línea, more than a month later it was still running daily processes manually.
• Movistar Venezuela, April 2025: data on 3.2 million customers was published, as verified by VE Sin Filtro.
• Cashea, February 2026: the company confirmed a leak of user data.

The most common fraud against companies and users

Many attacks start by deceiving a person. Venezuelan outlet Efecto Cocuyo identified the five most frequent digital scams of 2025. As a volume reference, Banco de Venezuela reported blocking 19,322 fraud attempts in the first quarter of 2025 alone.

• Phishing and QR-code phishing with fake bonus, raffle or bank portals.
• Impersonation of banks and brands on social media.
• Fake job offers used to steal data or money.
• Vishing and WhatsApp account takeover by callers posing as CICPC officers.
• Money mules and "mistaken" payments through Pago Móvil, the local instant-payment system.

Cybersecurity legal framework in Venezuela

Venezuela has not yet enacted a general cybersecurity law. Obligations and offenses are spread across several laws and sector rules.

• Special Law against Computer Crimes (Official Gazette No. 37,313, October 30, 2001): punishes unauthorized access with 1 to 5 years in prison, system sabotage with 4 to 8 years and computer fraud with 3 to 7 years.
• Law on Data Messages and Electronic Signatures (Official Gazette No. 37,148, February 28, 2001): gives legal value to data messages and electronic signatures, and creates SUSCERTE.
• Infogovernment Law (Official Gazette No. 40,274, October 17, 2013): names SUSCERTE the authority for state information security and creates the National Information Protection and Security System.
• SUDEBAN Resolution 641.10 of 2010: requires banks to use authentication factors, per-channel limits and education campaigns in electronic banking.
• SUDEBAN circular of January 2024: bars banks from moving their main data centers and databases abroad, and requires strong encryption and penetration tests at least once a year.
• National Cybersecurity Council (Decree 4,975, August 2024) and National Cyber Defense and Security Center (Decree 5,232, January 2026).
• Cybersecurity Law: listed as a bill in the 2026-2027 Legislative Plan approved by the National Assembly on January 22, 2026.

Agencies involved

Knowing who to call saves time when an incident happens.

• SUSCERTE, the Superintendency of Electronic Certification Services: root certification authority and head of the National Information Security System.
• VenCERT: the state computer emergency response team, part of SUSCERTE, focused on public systems and critical infrastructure.
• CICPC Computer Crimes Division: receives complaints about computer crimes against companies and individuals.

What a Venezuelan company needs to stay protected

A company does not need to build its own SOC to be protected, but it does need someone watching its systems continuously who knows how to act when something happens.

• 24/7 monitoring of servers, endpoints and accounts, with alerts prioritized by severity.
• Detection mapped to MITRE ATT&CK to know which attack techniques are covered.
• A defined response process: isolate hosts, disable accounts and contain before damage spreads.
• An audit log of every action, useful for compliance and as evidence in a criminal complaint.
• Regular penetration tests, required at least once a year in banking.
• Staff training against phishing, vishing and impersonation.

How CiberEm helps companies in Venezuela

CiberEm runs a remote SOC with 24/7 monitoring for companies and MSPs in Venezuela and Latin America, with support in Spanish and English. The platform brings Wazuh, TheHive and Cortex, DefectDojo and GreyNoise into one console, maps every alert to MITRE ATT&CK and executes active responses from the case, with a full audit trail of every action.