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Portugal has amended its cybercrime law to provide a legal exemption for good-faith security researchers, establishing a safe harbor for activities previously considered illegal, such as unauthorized system access or data interception. The new provision, Article 8.o-A, titled "Acts not punishable due to public interest in cybersecurity," outlines strict conditions under which security research is exempt from criminal liability, including requirements that the research aims solely to identify vulnerabilities not created by the researcher, contributes to cybersecurity, and does not seek economic gain beyond normal compensation.
Additional stipulations mandate that researchers must promptly report discovered vulnerabilities to system owners, relevant data controllers, and the CNCS, limit their actions to what is necessary for detection, avoid service disruption or data alteration, and refrain from using prohibited techniques such as DoS attacks, social engineering, or malware deployment. Any data obtained must remain confidential and be deleted within 10 days of remediation. The law also exempts acts performed with the system owner's consent, provided vulnerabilities are reported to the CNCS, thereby clearly defining the boundaries and protections for ethical hacking in Portugal.
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Portugal published Decree Law No. 125/2025 on December 4, updating its cybercrime framework to add Article 8.º-A to Law 109/2009. The change exempts certain good-faith cybersecurity research and ethical hacking activities from prosecution when strict public-interest and responsible-disclosure conditions are met.
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The UK government has announced plans to reform its outdated Computer Misuse Act to provide statutory defenses for ethical hackers and security researchers, aiming to protect them from prosecution when responsibly disclosing vulnerabilities. British security minister Dan Jarvis emphasized the need for these changes, acknowledging that the current law constrains legitimate research and that updated legislation would help strengthen the country's cyber resilience. The proposed reforms would allow researchers to spot and share vulnerabilities under certain safeguards, aligning the UK with similar protections already enacted in countries like the Netherlands, France, and Belgium. Meanwhile, Portugal has passed new legislation granting protections to security researchers, provided they do not seek financial gain or breach data protection laws. This move has been welcomed by the security community and increases pressure on the UK to modernize its own laws. The Portuguese law is described as "tightly scoped," requiring that security actions be strictly proportionate, and is seen as a positive step toward creating a safer environment for responsible vulnerability disclosure across Europe.
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