Kenya president’s website hacked, attackers demand 5 Bitcoin ransom

Kenya restored President William Ruto’s official website on Sunday after unknown hackers defaced the homepage, demanded 5 Bitcoin and threatened to leak alleged stolen files if payment was not made by 6 p.m. on Saturday. Visitors to president.go.ke had been shown a cryptocurrency wallet address, insulting messages aimed at the president and a countdown timer instead of official content. The Ministry of Information, Communications, and the Digital Economy said the breach was detected shortly after it occurred and that public access was quickly restricted while forensic investigations began. Cabinet Secretary William Kabogo Gitau said investigators had found no evidence of unauthorized access to sensitive government data, data downloads or information loss, and said government digital services remained safe, secure and operational. The investigation involves the National Computer and Cybercrime Coordination Committee, State House technical teams and external cybersecurity partners. The incident has intensified focus on Kenya’s public-sector cyber defenses after earlier coordinated attacks on government websites and a 2023 DDoS attack that disrupted access to the eCitizen platform, as the country moves to strengthen oversight through its newly approved National Cybersecurity Agency.