NAIROBI, July 18 – The official State House website was allegedly compromised in a suspected cyberattack, with its homepage replaced by messages targeting President William Ruto and a demand for a Bitcoin ransom estimated at about Sh41 million.
Visitors to the official presidential website, president.go.ke, reportedly found that the usual government content had been removed and replaced with unauthorized messages critical of the Head of State, raising concerns over the security of government digital infrastructure.
The suspected attackers are said to have demanded payment in cryptocurrency in exchange for restoring the website, although the authenticity of the ransom demand has not been independently verified.
The incident has renewed concerns over the vulnerability of government online platforms to cyber threats.
Kenya has in recent years witnessed several attempts by hackers to breach public sector websites and digital information systems, with some attacks resulting in temporary service disruptions.
Cybersecurity experts have consistently warned that government institutions must strengthen digital security measures to protect sensitive information and ensure uninterrupted public access to official services.
As of Saturday, State House had not issued an official statement confirming the alleged breach or outlining the steps being taken to investigate the incident.
Authorities are expected to determine the extent of the suspected cyberattack and whether any sensitive government data was compromised.
The alleged breach comes amid growing global concerns over ransomware attacks targeting government institutions, businesses and other critical public infrastructure.