Argentina adds cybersecurity to national security system

Argentina's executive branch sent Congress a 133-article bill, organized into eight chapters, that would create a National Security System and add cybersecurity functions and protection for public and private critical infrastructure. The bill entered the Chamber of Deputies on September 17, 2026, and began committee debate on September 30, according to the coverage cited.

What does the cybersecurity bill include?

The bill folds cybersecurity and critical infrastructure protection into the new National Security System. According to Clarín, the definition of critical infrastructure covers facilities, networks, systems, services, and assets, both public and private, whose disruption or destruction could significantly affect security, defense, health, the economy, essential services, or the functioning of the state.

The same coverage said the ruling party is planning a second meeting on October 6 and aims to bring the bill to the floor on October 21. In parallel, a critical reading published by El Cohete a la Luna argues that the new National Security System and its National Security Council, chaired by the president, would also cover critical infrastructure protection, although that institutional scope should be checked against the full legislative text.

What did the Ministry of Justice do in parallel?

The Ministry of Justice created PRONACIB, a program under the Undersecretariat for Criminal Policy in the Secretariat of Justice, with workstreams on cybercrime, digital evidence, and virtual assets. The measure was signed by Minister Juan Bautista Mahiques and published on September 25, 2026.

According to Diario Judicial, the program will operate within that undersecretariat and will work on identifying, tracing, tracking, securing, seizing, and analyzing virtual assets and related digital evidence. Infobae added that it also includes the preservation and analysis of digital evidence, cybersecurity applied to investigations, virtual assets, and the impact of artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies on criminal methods.

Rosario3 reported that PRONACIB is intended to develop diagnoses of cybercrime patterns, identify priority problems, and promote evidence-based criminal policy. El Destape, meanwhile, said the resolution explicitly contemplates the use of artificial intelligence and emerging technologies for crime prevention, detection, and investigation.

How was data processing regulated?

The resolution also placed the program's handling of personal data under Law 25.326, according to the research material available. That point is part of PRONACIB's administrative structure, which was placed under the Undersecretariat for Criminal Policy within the Secretariat of Justice.

Together, the measures show two parallel tracks: in Congress, a bill to expand the national security system with cybersecurity and critical infrastructure capabilities; and in the Justice Ministry, a dedicated program to investigate cybercrime, handle digital evidence, and work with virtual assets and artificial intelligence.