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🇫🇷 France /Crime & Justice

Kenya Presidency Website Hacked, Ransom Demanded

From Le Figaro · () French

Translated from French, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • The Kenyan presidency's website was hacked, with attackers demanding a ransom of 5 bitcoins.
  • The government acknowledged an "incident" that temporarily shut down the site, but stated no sensitive data was accessed.
  • This follows a trend of increasing cybercrime in East and West Africa, with previous attacks targeting government ministries.

The official website of the Kenyan presidency fell victim to a cyberattack on Saturday, with hackers demanding a ransom of 5 bitcoins, equivalent to approximately 280,000 euros. According to local Kenyan media reports, the attackers also threatened to release unspecified information if their demands were not met. The incident saw critical messages targeting President William Ruto appear on the website's homepage.

As a precautionary measure, access to the presidency's website has been temporarily restricted to facilitate containment, forensic analysis, and restoration operations.

— William Kabogo Gitau, Kenyan Minister of InformationThe Minister explained the government's immediate actions taken in response to the cyber incident affecting the presidency's website.

The Kenyan government, through the Ministry of Information, acknowledged the situation as an "incident." Minister William Kabogo Gitau stated that access to the website was temporarily restricted as a precautionary measure to facilitate containment, forensic analysis, and restoration efforts. He emphasized that there was no indication of unauthorized access to sensitive data or data exfiltration, assuring the public that government digital systems and services remained secure and operational.

There is no indication of unauthorized access to sensitive data, data exfiltration, or loss of information.

— William Kabogo Gitau, Kenyan Minister of InformationThe Minister sought to reassure the public about the security of government data following the cyberattack.

This hack is part of a broader pattern of escalating cybercrime in East and West Africa. Interpol reported in June 2025 a significant surge in cybercriminal activity across these regions. Alerts for suspected online scams increased by up to 3,000% in some African countries over the previous year. The agency also noted a rise in ransomware attacks originating from within the African continent itself.

The government's digital systems and services remain secure and operational.

— William Kabogo Gitau, Kenyan Minister of InformationThe Minister affirmed the overall security status of the government's digital infrastructure despite the website breach.

Interpol's report highlighted the scale of the threat, with nearly 18,000 cyberattacks or attempts detected in South Africa and over 12,000 in Kenya, both considered highly digitized economies. Some of these attacks had impacted critical infrastructure, including Kenya's Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) and Nigeria's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The recent attack on the Kenyan presidency's website underscores the persistent vulnerability of digital infrastructure in the region.

Strong increase in cybercrime in West and East Africa.

— InterpolThis quote summarizes Interpol's findings on the growing cybercrime trend in the specified African regions.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Le Figaro in French. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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