NAIROBI, Kenya (Horn Post) The official website of Kenyan President William Ruto was temporarily taken offline on Saturday after suspected hackers allegedly breached the platform, defaced its homepage, and demanded a ransom of five Bitcoins—worth approximately KSh41 million (US$320,000)—in exchange for not releasing what they claimed was sensitive government information.
The cyberattack targeted president.go.ke, Kenya’s official presidential website, where visitors reportedly encountered unauthorized messages directed at President Ruto instead of the site’s usual government content. The attackers allegedly threatened to publish unspecified confidential information unless the ransom was paid before 6:00 p.m. local time on Saturday.
Following the apparent breach, the website became inaccessible and displayed a maintenance notice stating:
“We are sorry for the inconvenience, but we are performing some maintenance. We will be back online shortly.”
The message suggested government technicians were working to restore the platform, although it did not provide details about the cause of the outage.
Government Responds as Investigation Gets Underway
According to Kenyan media reports, State House confirmed it was aware of the incident, saying its Information and Communications Technology (ICT) team had begun efforts to restore the website and investigate the source of the intrusion. Authorities have not publicly disclosed whether the attackers gained access beyond the homepage or whether sensitive government databases were compromised.
ICT Cabinet Secretary William Kabogo also indicated that the relevant cybersecurity agencies were responding to the incident, though officials have not commented on the authenticity of the hackers’ claims regarding the alleged possession of confidential government information.
Attack Renews Concerns Over Government Cybersecurity
The latest breach has raised fresh concerns about the cybersecurity of Kenya’s government digital infrastructure. It comes months after a coordinated cyberattack in November 2025 disrupted multiple government websites, with authorities at the time describing the incident as a synchronized attack targeting several state institutions.
Cybersecurity experts note that attacks against official government websites can damage public confidence, disrupt access to public information, and expose weaknesses in digital security systems, even when there is no confirmed evidence that internal government networks or classified data have been compromised.
At the time of publication, there was no independent verification that any sensitive government information had been accessed or stolen, and authorities had not confirmed the hackers’ allegations. The investigation into the incident remains ongoing.
Prepared By:
Horn Post Staff
NAIROBI, Kenya
