Kenya investigates breach of president's website
Hackers demanded a ransom of approximately 41 million Kenyan shillings (about $317,000) to bring the site back up.
Image by Cybernews
- Kenya took President William Ruto’s official website offline after hackers defaced it and demanded cryptocurrency payment.
- Reports said the hackers sought about 41 million Kenyan shillings, or roughly $317,000, to restore the site.
- Cabinet Secretary William Kabogo said there was no evidence of sensitive data access, theft, or information loss.
Key Takeaways by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.
Kenyan President William Ruto's official website was temporarily taken offline after authorities detected a cybersecurity incident, the government said on Saturday.
Hackers defaced the official presidential portal (president.go.ke) with a cryptocurrency wallet address alongside a message demanding payment in cryptocurrency.
According to reports, hackers demanded a ransom of approximately 41 million Kenyan shillings (about $317,000) in exchange for restoring the site.
The ministry said the incident was detected by the government's ICT Authority, which activated cybersecurity response protocols and temporarily restricted access.
For much of Saturday, the presidential website remained unavailable. At the time of writing, the website displays a service update message: “We will be back Soon”.
Information, Communications and the Digital Economy Cabinet Secretary William Kabogo confirmed the attack in a post on X.
"At this time, there is no evidence of unauthorised access to sensitive data, data exfiltration, or loss of information. Government systems and digital services remain secure and operational," Kabogo said.
He added that the relevant government agencies and cybersecurity teams are working to resolve the incident, saying, "Our cyber team is on top of the situation.”
Although the defaced homepage had been removed, services are yet to be restored. The ICT is working to conduct a forensic assessment to determine the scope of the incident.
The portal primarily serves an informational purpose, used mostly for press releases and government updates.
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The incident follows a massive coordinated cyberattack that disrupted dozens of Kenyan government websites last year, including those of State House and several ministries (including Interior, Labour, Energy, Health, and Education).
