Penal Code, Part Twelve, Chapter One (Cyber Crimes and Punishment)
A citation is an address, not a summary. The first part names the law; what follows narrows it to the exact section, article or paragraph.
In force since 15 February 2018.
A computer misuse rule binding public and private bodies.
As of 6 September 2026.
What it requires
- Do not access a computer, program, or data belonging to someone else without authorization; the Penal Code's wording carries no exception for a public, unauthenticated page, and no reported case construes the term.
- Do not alter, damage, destroy, disrupt, or otherwise interfere with a computer system, program, or data without authorization, including by installing a virus, hijacking a network connection, or forging or deceptively accessing a computer system.
- Do not disclose a password, access code, or other means of access to a program, computer system, or data without authorization.
- Do not produce, supply, distribute, or obtain software or a password intended for use in one of these offenses.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Private right of actionNo
Criminal exposure note
Article 852(1)'s unauthorized-access offense alone is punished by short imprisonment with no cash-fine alternative; Articles 853, 854, 856, 857, 858, and 859 each carry medium imprisonment or a cash fine of 60,000 to 300,000 Afghanis; Article 855's disclosure offense carries a cash fine equal to twice the benefit gained or loss inflicted.
Penalty structure
Cash-fine cap under Arts. 853, 854, 856, 857, 858, and 859 (unauthorized changes, destruction, hijacking, malware creation, forgery, and deception), each of which carries medium imprisonment as an alternative to the fine. Art. 852's own unauthorized-access offense is punished by imprisonment alone, with no monetary cap, and Art. 855's disclosure offense carries a cash fine equal to twice the benefit gained or loss inflicted rather than this fixed cap.
- Rule
- Fixed only
- As of
- 6 September 2026
- Currency
- AFN
- Fixed cap
- 300,000
What it reaches
Obligation class
Access restriction
What this law does
Drafted with AI from the cited sources under the direction of UnGovr staff. UnGovr holds editorial responsibility for this page.
Article 851 defines a cybercrime as a crime committed through modern information technology, electronic communications, or the internet in cyberspace.
Article 852 punishes a person who accesses a computer, program, or data of a computer system belonging to someone else without authorization with short imprisonment, with an additional penalty where the access causes physical, non-physical, or financial damage; the article states no requirement that the offender circumvent a security measure to gain access.
Articles 853, 854, 856, 857, 858, and 859 each punish, with medium imprisonment or a cash fine of 60,000 to 300,000 Afghanis, unauthorized alteration of a computer system's functionality (including installing a virus or unauthorized hacking of network traffic), unauthorized destruction of a computer system, program, or data, unauthorized hijacking that prevents data transmission, producing or supplying software or a password for use in one of these offenses, electronic forgery of a computer's original setting, and electronic deception to access a computer system, program, or data.
Article 855 separately punishes disclosing a password, access code, or other means of access to a program, computer system, or data without authorization, with a cash fine equal to twice the benefit gained or loss inflicted. Article 916 ties the Penal Code's entry into force to nine months after its publication in the Official Gazette. The Gazette published the Code as issue number 1260 on 15 May 2017.
When LexLint raises it
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Read the law
English translation of the Penal Code of Afghanistan (2017)
Official Gazette No. 1260 (15 May 2017), translated by the Justice Sector Support Program hosted republication, not an Afghan government domain